Emery Smithsonian: Fight For Survival
by BamItsTyler
Summary: This story focuses on the life of Emery Smithsonian, a twelve year old girl from District Eleven and those who surround her during the 67th annual Hunger Games. Regardless of her physical stature, she will need to dig deep down within herself to try and make it out of these games alive. Will she be crowned victor? or die fighting because of the mistakes of her ancestors?
1. Chapter 1: District 11

Chapter 1:

* * *

-One year ago.

_A small girl by the name of Dawn Mayflower carefully watched the forest floor below for any signs of the other kids trying to hunt her down. She was tired of the fighting, the bloodshed, she was tired in general. As She was resting on her branch, she heard voices and quickly rose higher into the tree line. Dawn quickly noted that the voices belonged to the pair from District One, the same pair who killed her partner Lucas. "Poor Lucas.." she thought to herself. Lucas is the only reason why she's still breathing right now. Five days ago, he stalled the careers as long as he could while she escaped into the trees as he instructed. If she somehow got through this, she promised to plant a daisy in his memory._

_"Did you see the eleven girl Silas? If you find her I get to kill her! How the hell did she make it so far without that Lucas kid?" snapped the girl Dawn knew as Rebecca Steele._

_"Quit fretting over her... she's only thirteen she'll be the first to die out of the four of us." Silas groaned as they stood below the spot Dawn was hiding in._

_Dawn took out her hunting knife and looked down below her, observing the two. She knew she couldn't hide like this forever or the gamemakers would flush her out, if she worked quickly she could take down the two of them without knowing what hit them. She took a couple deep breaths and kissed her blue monarch brooch for good luck._

_"Final four! I could do this!...this is for you Lucas." Dawn whispered and took in one more breath._

_"YAH!"_

_Dawn took a leap off the branch she situated on and toppled down onto Silas pushing Rebecca out of the way. The two careers including Dawn toppled to the ground dazed from her weight crashing down on them. Silas's battle ax slid out of his reach after he hit the ground._

_As he slowly recovered he tried to reached for it, Dawn quickly recovered and held Silas's reaching hand down as she stabbed him in the midsection multiple times. Silas desperately tried to stop Dawn by pushing her head away with his free hand, only to make her bite down on his fingers drawing blood. Dawn winced and rolled off of Silas as Rebecca kicked her in the ribs and engaged Dawn with a throwing knife while Silas wallows and chokes on his own blood._

_Dawn clutched her side and let out a gasp as it bruised up then ducked as a throwing knife tossed by Rebecca sailed past her head. Before Rebecca got another chance to unsheathe a knife, Dawn made a beeline towards Rebecca's mid section, tackling Rebecca into a tree making her grunt in pain._

_Dawn felt a sharp pain as Rebecca's elbow connected with her tailbone, she fell back giving the two space. Instead of taking out her sword, Rebecca picks up a nearby log and tries to bludgeon Dawn with it._

_Quickly, Dawn rolled out the way as the log collided with the ground. Dawn pounced from off the ground and tackled Rebecca to the floor, making her drop the log._

_As they both hit the ground, Dawn fed punches as hard as she could into Rebecca's face. Rebecca countered by placing a foot on Dawn's chest and pushing her off. Dawn rolled to the ground, then slowly got up and held against a tree, clutching her side. Dawn smiled as Silas's cannon boomed in the distance._

_Rebecca did a kip-up and brushed herself off as she laughed at Dawn mockingly. The two began to square off, not letting one another out of their sight for a second._

_"Who would have thought a_**_PIPSQUEAK_******_like yourself would have made it this far..." her voice was as hot as smelted iron._

_"You're despicable for enjoying these games!" Dawn retorted tearing up. "You killed Lucas! and I'm going to make you pay.."._

_"Make me pay...? hmph." Rebecca shrugged then rolled her shoulders as she kept pacing,_

_"I guess I could toy around with you for a bit...My victory could wait for a minute," She jeered as she quickly unsheathed her longsword from her back and made quick swings towards Dawn._

_Dawn unsheathed her hunting knife and proceeded to dodge her swings. When she saw an opening, she slashed Rebecca's forearm with her knife and swung at Rebecca's nose with her right hand, Dawn heard a sickening crack as her fist connected with Rebecca's nose._

_Rebecca strode back a few steps in surprise and glared at Dawn, she wiggled her nose and held her head outwards as blood trickled down. She let out a "Heh!" then glanced at her bleeding forearm making her wince in pain. After a split second she let out a cry and charged Dawn making a sideways chop with her sword. Dawn dodged that but got smacked with the hilt of Rebecca's blade a split second after._

_As Dawn spun from the punch, Rebecca grabbed her by her windbreakers' collar, and impaled her with her sword, making her rise midway into the air. Dawn made an ear piercing cry as blood exploded from her midsection, she crumpled to the ground as Rebecca peeled her off the sword with her foot. Rebecca stood over Dawn in triumph as she gasped for air._

_Rebecca giggled as she raised her sword to finish her off. "Victory Tour here I co-"_

_Dawn watched as a figure came out of the bushes and slammed Rebecca's head into a tree then held her by the hair as he made a quick slicing motion with his knife across her neck, her cannon boomed before she touched the ground. Dawn identified the person as Ryan Flux of District Two, she knew that he wasn't like the other careers, so full of hatred and bloodlust. He defended her while the other careers picked on her during the first day of training sessions because of her knife skills. On the second day of training he even showed her some techniques on how to better her skills, unfortunately, him showing care for her got him kicked out of the alliance._

_Ryan held his knife in a defensive position waiting for anyone else to jump out and blindside him, until he heard a slight whimper coming from behind him. He slowly walked to the little girl on the ground before him. He instantly recognised her as Dawn Mayflower from District Eleven._

_"Oh Dawn..." he gasped in shock as Dawn clutched her wound and shook violently, he quickly laid her head on his knees._

_"R-r-r-Ryan, I don't feel too good." Dawn sobbed as she took a sharp breath, Ryan chuckled softly, feeling her long white hair._

_"That's because you got stabbed Dawn.." he musters a friendly smile, "O-oh yeah.." she coughed violently and began to sob._

_"Erm, it's okay Dawn! I swear, I-I ca-hold on!" Ryan sifts through his bag and frantically tries to find his medical supplies. He usually didn't feel sorry for other tributes, but Dawn was so young.__He took them out until a bloody hand guided his hand with the supplies back towards the compartment he took it from. He looked back up to find Dawn smiling at him weakly and shaking her head "No.". After a couple of minutes Dawn spoke for the last time._

_"Ryan.."._

_"Yes Dawn."__Ryan heard his voice break and tears run down his cheek,_

_"I-I feel oh so cold..I see a light...and Lucas and my dad are waving for me to come to them..should I go?.. I wanna go...", she frowned as he nodded._

_"Yes Dawn you can go...". Dawn nodded vigorously and smiled as a tear ran down her cheek, the smiled faded slightly as did her breathing. She sunk down into the grass as a cannon boomed in the distance._

* * *

Present day.

_I was in an arena, how did I get here? I'm not too sure for certain. A girl with tan skin sprinted towards me. She looked like an amazon warrior, her features muscular and lean. Her long black hair flowed through the wind as she ran with precision. She tried lobbing a spear at me but I dodged it, only for her to take out a hunting knife a split second after. Her evil grin held nothing but mischievous intention as she casually walked towards me._

_I ran for my life from the unknown girl closing in on me, only to get a nasty uppercut from a boy in front of me. He had blond full hair and blue eyes full of hatred. He lifted me by my jacket gave me another punch. I noticed he had a bloodied ax in his other hand. I spat blood onto the floor, dazed. The girl I was running from laughed hysterically and circled me, like wounded prey. I gasp for air and desperately clutch my chest as she kicked me into a tree trunk. I grunted as I slid down to the base of the tree. "Please!, I-I'm sorry!" I yell in pain as the boy and girl laughed in unison at me. The boy lifted me off the ground and slapped me across the face, a tear runs down my face and onto my stinging cheek. I hold my cheek and let the tears flow from my eyes. How the hell did I get here... "Sorry princess, your time is up!" he drops me as he prepares to cut my neck open with his ax. "NO!" I yell as my sight goes white._

"NO!, NO, NO,NO!" I yell waking up. My body was covered in sweat as I jolted awake. I felt as if I were going to have a heart attack. My father rushes into my room as I hold my chest gasping for air. He grabs me lightly and holds me close, hoping that his presence would help me calm down. I struggle until I realized..It was a dream..It was only a dream, I hug him and sob. Almost every day for the past year and a half ever since I lost my best friend to the games I have these 'freak' episodes of me being in an arena...and that same evil girl with the devilish features would be waiting for me.

"It's okay Emmy, Daddy's gotcha'.." he gave me a kiss on the cheek and grooms my hair.

I'm lucky to have a father like this...most families in Panem don't have it like I do. "Bad dream again..?" my father looked at me sternly as I nodded.

"Mhm.." I nod as he holds me close again.

He ruffles my hair and gets off my bed. "C'mon, we have two hours to eat then get ready.". "Okay Daddy.." I chime as he walks out of my room.

I let out a groan and sit up. The sweat on my body felt like a heavy rain, sticky and uncomfortable. I looked around my bedroom. Magnolia my twin sister, was gone. I take off my nightgown and walked into the washroom to take a quick shower. Once I was done with my shower I slipped into some khaki short shorts and a black tank top with a white Panem seal on the left side of the chest. I stared into the mirror and smiled, I think I looked very pretty and mature for a twelve year old. I like my dark skin and jet black hair, it's very long and goes all the way down to my lower back, but it's in a mess so I'm not very fond of it right now. I like my figure, even though it's only starting to shape out.

I walked over to my wall of assorted paintings and sketches. Everyone in the area says that my drawings are 'exquisite' and that I have a real knack for it. My paintings are so 'exquisite' even, that Mayor Fleming recently paid me to make a portrait of him.

After browsing my paintings, I took the largest one off of its hinge and studied it, out of all the pictures I painted this one stood out the most to me. It was a portrait of my best friend Dawn, sitting on one of those fancy thrones you would see at the Justice building. Her hands were placed on her lap as she tilted her head and smiled straight ahead. She looked like an angel with her long flowing white hair and deep blue eyes sporting a daisy between her left ear. I dressed her in a white empire style dress, she looked regal and prestigious. I sighed and played with my hair as I reminisced in good times.

She's the one who...died in the Hunger Games last year. At least she died valiantly and made it to the final four by staying high up in the trees. She took down a career tribute with her hunting knife before she was violently impaled with a sword. I had the unfortunate pleasure of watching it all unfold. Everyone crowded town square thinking that she had a chance of coming back, most of us thought she was a bloodbath tribute. She proved us wrong.

The girl who killed her, her name was Rebecca Steele of District One. She got her throat slit open by District Two's Ryan Flux while she was about to finish off Dawn. Ryan comforted Dawn until she died, I'm thankful for his empathy. Dawn was thirteen when she passed away. She was so close to coming home alive. I remember when Ryan came to our District to give a speech. He broke down and cried, shouting that he was sorry and that it should've been him, and that he should have killed himself. I knew he meant what he was saying. We all clapped quietly at his emotional outburst of remorse, respecting him a little bit more.

Anyways...I walk down to the family room and towards the kitchen. I stopped, sniffed the air and smiled because I knew what the scent of cinnamon and apples meant. It meant that mother was making porridge my favourite! She makes the best porridge in all of District Eleven..thank my nana for that, since it's her original recipe. Nana would make a giant batch of porridge for everyone in the area, even Peacekeepers! She died two years ago due to natural causes. I miss her so much.

I snapped out of my thoughts as mom kissed my cheek.

"Good morning Emery." she gave me a warm smile as I walked to an open seat and sat down.

I didn't notice I was lounging in the hallway. I was probably too deep in my thoughts. Mom was a happy go lucky person who wants nothing but the best for her children. She never has a frown on her face regardless of her current situations in life. She had bouncy neck length jet black hair and had a heart-shaped face with metallic coloured eyes.

"G'Morning Emery!" my twin sister Magnolia chirps as she helps herself to the porridge in her bowl.

"Hey Magnolia." I smile towards her.

Magnolia is one of those soft girly types. She goes out of her way to make sure everyone is happy and content. I'm more of the quiet shy type and carry only some of her characteristics while she has her own set different from mine. She looked exactly like me with the messy jet black hair, metallic eyes and dark skin. I lean over to the right hand side of our table and pinch my twin eight year old brother and sister's cheeks, to their dismay.

"Hi Sage, hey Rose!" I say in a babyish tone as they try to struggle to get free of my grasp on them.

"Get away! Get away!" Sage and Rose said in unison as they tried to bite down on my hand playfully. I quickly move my hand's away from them and laugh as they join in and say "Hi Emery!" in a playful tone.

Sage and Rose are your typical hyperactive little brother and sister. They tend to play fight a lot and can be quite mischievous if you don't keep a good eye on them. I tend to keep my distance from them, as they might team up on you when you least expect it. Sage was a male version of me and Magnolia. Signature metallic eyes, his hair was short, but full, curly and silky due to mom adding moisturizer to it. Rose's hair was neater than mine and Magnolias. It was straightened and sported a white headband.

Finally I turn to my mothers somewhat swollen stomach, "Hi baby brother _or_ sister..." I whisper and lay my head on my mothers stomach as she lets out a laugh, she's six months along, I'm happy for her! We don't know the gender yet because she wants to keep it a secret. I don't know how mom handles all of us sometimes...When I heard that daddy and her wanted at least two more children after this one I couldn't believe my hearing! I guess the breeding center picked out the right pair.

After greeting everyone I help my self to a bowl of porridge as mother played with my messy hair. "I'll fix your hair up before you go.." she whispers to me as I nod my head in assent.

I find a need for my hair to be presentable while most people in our District don't. People here in District Eleven don't dress up or get pretty unless it's for a wedding or the reapings. If we got prettied up all the time, it would probably get ruined by working a day in the orchards.

I quickly eat my porridge and sit in front of the TV as my mother brushed my hair with care, handling it like a fragile package. Our furniture was decent and our television was one of those fancy holographic ones. We wouldn't see these luxuries in our lifetime if our parents never had their high ranking jobs. Magnolia sits beside me as we glue our eyes to the television.

As we watched the TV, the flag of Panem moved gracefully on a flagpole as the Horn of Plenty played. The camera then moved to different districts, such as District 7's forests, District 4's seas, our districts orchards with workers picking produce, then lastly District Twelve's mines. The camera moves to the Capitol with a hovercraft zooming over it near the anthems end. There's something about the anthem that I love so much, I'm not too sure what though...maybe the amount of power behind it, the large amount of patriotism, a sense of pride. The camera then focused on Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith as they came onto the screen.

"Hello Panem! we are less than twenty four hours away until the 67th annual hunger games reaping begins!" Claudius roared as Ceasar let out a chuckle.

"That's right Claudius, twenty four hours until adolescents from across Panem get to chosen to represent their district and make their way down to the Capitol! Where they will be showcased, prepped and interviewed. Then eventually sent off to the arena, where they will fight until one remains!" Caesar says as he pretends to box the air.

"I can't wait Caesar, I'm overflowing with happiness!" Claudius makes fists out of both his hands,Caesar sighs then smiles,

"Aren't we all Claudius...Aren't we all.." Caesar rotates his chair, "And with that.. we leave you a re-run of last years games.."

The interview room changed to a forest arena, with 24 tributes rising to the surface, Dawn being one of them. As soon as the gong went off Dawn dashed to the cornucopia picking up a trident. Another tribute tried to stab her with a sword, but she side stepped and cut his legs from under him and raised her trident to finish him off. Before I could see it, mother shut off the TV as she shook her head in disgust. Tears ran down my cheek as I comforted a crying Magnolia.

"It's okay Mag.. she's in a better place now." I say soothingly and look up into the air smiling, Y-yeah I guess.." she let's out a sniffle and snuggles closer to me.

Mother cuts the tension by rubbing our backs. "Emmy, your hair is done!" Mother cheers happily as she hands me a mirror. I smile in amazement, quickly forgetting about Dawn's games. My hair was made into a jet black cross braid, what would I do if I didn't have a mother like the one I had now..

"Thank you mom!" I exclaim as I give her a quick hug to the midsection.

"No problem sweetie!" she returns the hug as me and Magnolia get up walk towards the door to meet up with Daddy and begin a days worth of hard work.

Daddy was wearing a white dress shirt tucked into tan jeans and black suspenders. He put on his stetson and opened the door as we finished putting on our shoes. "We'll be back soon!" he yells towards the family room as he closes the door behind us.

We walk outside to the backyard, or backfield I should say. The field was divided into acres of wheat fields, peach trees, mini cotton fields, and many other crops we grow. The workers that were near us gracefully bowed, curtsied or lifted their hats towards my father as we walked deeper into the orchard. He smiled and nodded to them as he went to talk to another warden. The clothing they wore was somewhat stained by the dirt from the fields they worked.

Although I do the same job, I seriously have it way better than most of these people.. my mother is the mayor's chief of staff, so we get extra from that plus Daddy is a warden at one of the biggest orchards in our District that just so happens to be my home. Me and my family are basically shielded by most of the distress and anguish that most people in Zone 4 aka 'Macon' face.

The only time when our family knew the words 'Distress and Anguish' on a first name basis was when me and Magnolia signed up for tesserae a couple of times due to a district wide crop failure two months ago, when our soil that was once fertile and rich turned into dust. No produce processed equals no rations or pay. Our names are in the bowl seven times. Plus one because it's my first year in the reaping so that makes it eight times.

We're not that rich or poor... but somewhere in the middle. You could say I'm a sheltered child that has just enough necessities to make it from day to day. I wish conditions for my people weren't so harsh. I wish they could make ends meet on a day to day basis like my family does.

As we walked towards the equipment storage, we meet up with our friends Clancy and Lily. They both give us a warm smile as we huddle into a circle.

"Hey, Maggie. Hi Emery!" Lily says hugging me,

"Hi Lily!" I exclaim returning the hug, Lily quickly moved from me to Magnolia giving her a hug as well.

Lily was thirteen years old She was pale skinned with long blond hair and emerald coloured eyes, a visible minority in this District. She wore the same tan shorts and tank top as I did. She's outgoing most of the time and when things require no-nonsense she was your girl.

"Ready to get started?" Lily asks as Magnolia and I both nod our heads.

"Okay let's get started..." I say as we walk along with the rest of the workers towards our designated spots. Were usually in school, but due to it being harvest season the Mayor wants all available hands to help process produce. I'd rather be in school studying than doing adult jobs. Maybe I should walk up to a Peacekeeper and tell them that and see where it takes me...

We walk up to an equipment rack to get the equipment needed to do our jobs. I quickly take a scythe off a row while Lily takes a number of baskets and stacks them up. It's was me and Lily's job to thresh wheat, climb and pick fruits and whistle to the workers when it's time to take a break or when the work day is over. Magnolia picks up her clipboard and a first aid kit as it's her job is to help administrate and keep track of attendance, our workloads and she's also trained to help with injuries.

I walked into the wheat fields with Lily as Magnolia ticked off other workers in attendance, I found the scythe pretty easy to use. I made twenty bundles of wheat and followed Lily to the peach trees. These peach trees were nothing like the average peach trees you would see. They were injected with serums that made them grow as large as an oak tree. We looked up at the tree we were going to pick and saw a small sized tracker jacker nest...nasty little things. Lily scowled and laughed mischievously as she went back over to the equipment rack, when she came back she had a smoke machine in hand. The wild look in her eyes screamed she was going to do something drastic.

"I'll weaken the jackers, when I do, you hold the basket while I drop some peaches." Lily hissed as she climbs up the tree.

"...Shouldn't we wait for Hector and his team to clear out this tree?" I ask nervously as she waves her hand at me dismissively as If I said something crazy.

"Forget about Hector!, I got this." she said inching up the rest of the trunk.

"Try not to get stung..remember last week?" I jeered as she stuck her tongue at me.

She remembers last week. She stupidly tried to break a branch that a nest was situated on and got stung twice. Afterwards she thought everyone's faces were melting..silly goose. Lily sprays the nest as a dozen bees drop out of the air, lifeless. Luckily the nest wasn't too big for us to handle.

I grabbed a basket and held it out as Lily tossed peaches out of the tree. I bobbed and weaved side to side as the peaches made their way to the basket. We made sure we had one hundred and twenty peaches, for that was the number that was expected from us as expert climbers. If we don't reach that number we might get punished with no pay, cut rations, the list goes on.

We ended up filling five baskets with peaches from different trees that for Lily's sake, didn't have any tracker nests in them.

"Do you have the time?" Lily asked as she laid on the part of the branch closest to the base of the tree we were on.

"It should be break time.." I say sluggishly looking at the sun, it's noon judging by its position in the sky. Dad taught me that one.

I drop the basket as I climb the tree to its highest point and loudly hum a tune that Mother taught me, passed down from my nana, Yankee Doodle. A split second passes as a chorus plays back the tune I hummed, signalling to the workers below that it's time to take a break.

Lily tosses me a peach as she eats hers, I quickly dig into mine and get rid of the core before a Peacekeeper spots us. Eating the produce is illegal in District Eleven. If they catch you it could land you in a puddle of trouble.

As we ate, I look off into the distance and sighed, our District is so beautiful. If I had time, I'd sit down and paint my surroundings. The sky was colored in a light blue hue, covered with clouds. I look towards the wheat fields and gasp..I saw Dawn. Dawn was wearing a bright white dress that made her look like a Greek goddess, her white hair flowed with the wind and was accompanied by green olive branches. She pranced gracefully in the field as bluebirds followed happily behind her.

I was snapped out of my daydream with two rapid pokes to my side. "Emmy!?, Emery! Snap out of it!" Lily yells as she pokes my side with her fingers again.

"Huh!?, wha-!?..Oh right. Sorry." I say letting out a sigh and rubbing my eyes. I have visions of Dawn on occasion. I don't know why though. Maybe a part of me doesn't want to let her go just yet, while the other part accepts she's in a better place looking down on us.

"Over there, near the river!" she points and says intriguingly "..Is that Clancy and his brother?". I look where she points and raise my eyebrows.

I see the person who appears to be Clancy, another friend of ours, swiping the air with what appears to be a machete. He tosses it at a wooden target as his brother nods in approval.

"He's training for the games again..." I sigh shaking my head. Training for the games is illegal also, why he does it? I don't know. Mainly around when the games are starting to come around, he get's nervous and starts to prepare. If he ever got chosen for the games, he'll easily take care of anyone who tried to cause him harm.

"Let's get a closer look.." I say trying to hide the excitement in my voice as I slid down the peach tree. Lily followed suit. We sneak closer to where Clancy was situated and hid in the foliage as we peered over them to listen to the ongoing conversation.

"...Decent throw Clancy, next time try to be firm." Clancy's nineteen year old brother, Lance Carmichael said patting Clancy's back, happy with what he did. "..Thanks." he says quietly as he and his brother hide the weapons they were using in the brush out of sight.

Me and Lily come out of our spot and hold our hips. "Hey Clancy?, what's all this?" Lily asked as the brothers jumped still in their place. "..Nothing." Clancy says turning around, his face blank, expressionless.

"Training for the games is illegal you know.." I say giggling as I study him.

Clancy was fourteen had short wavy hair and dark skin with light brown eyes. He's a very reserved person. He saved our educational building from burning down last month and got a medal from the mayor. He's so strong and handsome... I have giant crush on him but he's kinda oblivious to it. I think he's that way with me because of the results from the government breeding test.

The government usually regulates marriages for people of reaping age for the sake of a bigger population. They take a sample of your blood and mix it with a person opposite of your gender to get the best matches. They paired me and Clancy together, apparently me and him have a high chance of conceiving more than one child at once. Good news for me, but not so much for him. I guess he wanted someone his age. If you have three children or more, the government rewards you with a bigger home.

"I only started a couple days ago, not like it'll make a difference..", he frowns and pats Lily's back, then turns around to help his brother clear away the weaponry only to be stopped by him.

"It's fine Clancy, I can handle it from here, go on.", he said happily. Clancy nodded in acknowledgement and pointed towards my home,

"let's go back to the orchard.." he says holding our backs and herding us back to the compound. I wonder why Clancy thinks it's necessary to train up, the odds of him getting picked are somewhat low. Okay, well he did sign up for tessarae on multiple occasions...twenty eight times to be exact. I guess that's more than enough reason.

We walked towards the wheat field back from the woods and stopped as Peacekeepers dragged a middle aged man into the middle of the orchard and tied him to a pole. I think that man was Carter Connally. We quickly followed after the crowd that followed after the Peacekeepers.

The District's head Peacekeeper, Commander Ponder, undid a whip from his belt and cracked it as a sinister smile twitched from the corner of his lips. In general, Ponder was a very harsh person. To me and my sister he made an somewhat of an exception. His hair had a gray executive feel to it, his right eye was covered with an eyepatch, his eyepatch alone screams "I've been to hell and back." while his left eye was cold blue, like ice. Everyone gathered around the pole and noise of people chattering among themselves was loud. Me, Lily and Clancy meet up with Magnolia and Jimmy, another long time friend of ours. Jimmy is the biggest joker in our group, his brown hair buzzed and his pale white skin dirtied by a days hard work, he's somewhat like Lily personality wise. He was fourteen also.

As everyone was muttering I managed to tap Magnolia to get her attention,

"What's going on?" I whisper to her, she shrugs.

"I don't kno-"

"QUIET!" the commander shouted as he took a handgun out of his holster and fired two rounds into the air. Everyone quickly shut up and listened attentively.

Ponder extended his hand as Peacekeeper handed him a speakerphone and stepped back, then stood back at attention.

**"The stealing of produce...Twenty lashes!"**the commander barked as the crowd started yelling in protest. Ponder feigned a look of sadness and shrugged sarcastically. Then after a split second took out his handgun and fired three rounds into the dirt, making us tumble back a couple feet. That shut us up for good.

"THIS!", he barked as he proceeded to whip Carter on the back,

"-is what happens if you steal food!" Ponder grunted as he whipped Carter. I winced as large welt in the shape of a thunderbolt appeared on his back, Mr. Connally screamed in agony as he was wiped multiple times.

Not wanting to see anymore, I frowned, turned around and buried my face into Clancy's chest, whimpering. His chest is really solid..

"Um..Emery?" Clancy said confused with my random gesture, "Hm..?, oh!" I say and quickly getting off his chests and fidgeting with my hair absent-mindedly. I blushed lightly and made a mental note not to do something like that again.

After the commander was done, a group of workers quickly untied Mr. Connally and rushed him away from the scene. Commander Ponder turned to the crowd as we quickly took multiple steps back in fear. He cleared his throat and brushed his shoulder as the same Peacekeeper gave him the speakerphone to address the shocked crowd of workers. As he spoke, his voice sounded seriously ominous yet authoritative.

**"I'm positive you people know that all forms of stealing in this District is punishable by death. That man is damn well lucky I didn't put a round in his head!, now get back to work, all of you. I don't want anymore problems..."**

and with that, he grabbed a support beam on a humvee door closest to him as it drove off with him casually leaning on the side. We silently went back to our jobs as the humvees drove down the road into the mid-afternoon sun. Jimmy and Clancy went off to help lift bags of barley onto a truck as me and Lily returned to picking peaches. Once we thought we picked enough peaches, we went back to wheat fields and threshed wheat. Peacekeepers patrolled the rows of workers with their fully automatics hanging off a strap, ready to strike if someone makes a wrong decision.

A few hours have passed and it's near black out, probably eight thirty. We managed to make one hundred and twenty-five bundles of wheat, and pick two hundred peaches.

"I think it's about time we go home.." Jimmy says as me and Magnolia nimbly climb up a tree. We whistle a happy and swift tune and the mockingjays play it back to Us, signaling to everyone below that it was time to home.

We all put our equipment back on the rack it came from and walk towards my house among the packs of workers heading home. Once we reached the front of my house we all stood together in a circle.

"I guess that's that." Clancy says putting his hands on his waist as Lily and Jimmy nod happily in approval.

"Welp..see you guys at supper." Lily says as she, Jimmy and Clancy start back to their homes, only to be stopped by my voice.

"Wait, you guys are coming over?" I ask kicking the dirt on the ground. "Yeah..didn't your parents tell you?" Jimmy asked, rotating his shoulders, sore from working most of the day.

"No.." Magnolia replied. "Well..we are." Clancy says picking up a scythe making practice swings as if he were going to strike someone, which threw me off a little bit. "_Hmph.. I wonder why they're coming over"_

"Okay! see you guys then." I chirp as I and Magnolia happily wave goodbye as our three friends walk down the dirt road into the setting sun.

**-.-.-.-**

Despite all the stress and despair in our lives we still band together as one and come together in fellowship...this is what I love about my District most, togetherness and the willing to lend a hand to another person in need. I've never seen so much food in my life...salad, a small groosling, and a small amount of potatoes, although it isn't much...what am I saying!? This is the closest anyone gets to a full meal around here. Everything we produce goes into the bellies of Capitol people. Regardless, I'm still thankful I get to come together with my friends and family.

"Mother, Daddy? you never told us why we are all gathered around tonight." I say sticking my fork into my bowl of salad. I'm _100 percent sure_ I know _exactly_ why we're here tonight.

Mother smiled warmly and gripped my hand tight. She then looked around and smiled at everyone sitting at the table, she took in a breath and sighed happily.

"..Life, we're here to celebrate life...", "Just incase you..yo-" she chokes on her words,

"End up getting reaped." Daddy says and calmly drinks a glass of water.

"No, none of us will get reaped." Magnolia said in a belligerent tone and rubbed mother's back. She looked visibly upset with the conversation.

Everyone went silent for a handful of minutes until Jimmy let out a laugh.

"It'll be fine!, after the reapings we'll all come back and celebrate!" Jimmy said breaking the silence and putting a shoulder around his mother and father, they gave him a big smile.

Clancy looked down at his plate glumly. I carefully put my right hand underneath the table and entwine my hand with his and squeeze gently. He looks at me and shakes his head, he then gently puts my hand down on my thigh. _Emery what are you doing!?.._

"Well in that case.." Jimmy say's standing up, and clearing his throat. "Good afternoon boys and squirrels!" He say's in a Capitol accent.

"Happy Hunger Games!" Lily joins in cocking her hips sideways slightly, mimicking our Districts escort Minnie LaFontaine.

"And may the odds be _ever_in your favor!" Magnolia and I say in unison standing up as we all burst into laughter.

Clancy gives a small smile, he knows he wants to take part in our teasing, but he doesn't. He's physically showing what all of us are trying to keep down until tomorrow, anxiety, restlessness, fear... and until these reapings pass, those feelings will stick with you like glue.

After the dinner I spend one quarter of the night lying awake. Knowing that maybe, regardless of this being my first reaping, that this might be my last night at home.

* * *

**So? what'd you think!?, this is my first Hunger Games fic :P, The next chapter is pretty much done. I value everyone's opinions bad or good, It makes you a better writer in the future. **

**I own nothing of the Hunger Games...but I do own a chewed pen cap and a nickel if that counts as anything. **


	2. Chapter 2: Death Lottery

Chapter 2: Death Lottery.

"**Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained**."

**Arthur Somers**

* * *

I wake up. The house is quiet. Magnolia sleeps in her bed soundly beside mine as I check the calendar, today's the 5th. I wish we could skip this day and make it the 6th, for today was reaping day. I groan and roll out of my bed and into my reading chair and put my head into my hands.

For some reason I cannot fathom, I'm extremely stressed out and slowly dying from anxiety, but _WHY?._What do I, Emery Smithsonian, have to worry about? My name I know for a fact had to be in the bowl 8 times due to my signing up for tesserae. But there are tons of girls who have their names in the bowl over twenty times...It's my first reaping, what are the odds of me getting picked!? I can't help but feel scared, nervous, anxious and upset all at the same time. If people didn't _rebel_, we wouldn't be in this _mess,_and innocent kids such as_myself_wouldn't have to die. _DAWN_ wouldn't have had to _DIE_. Putting my self vs. society conflict aside, I get up and put on cargo pants with many pockets and a black tee.

Magnolia slowly gets up and rubs her eyes. She smiles warmly at me then looks at the calendar. As she studied the calendar her warm smile turned into a deep frown.

"Morning sleepy head.",

"Morning Emmy." she sighs and walks up to our dresser and gazes into the mirror.

"Our first reaping..." she says quietly as she combs her somewhat messy hair. "Yeah." I reply turning away from her gaze. I don't want her to see me worried about it.

"It'll be fine Emmy!, I promise!" she smiles and hugs me tight in reassurance. She looks as worried as I am, but hey...we're twins after all, y'know have the same feelings, you punch one and the other feels it?

The reapings don't start until twelve noon. So I guess me and Magnolia have time to fool around with our friends in the fields until then. Once me and Maggie get dressed, we take our time down the stairs and notice that there are two bowls of porridge waiting for us. Magnolia and I take our seats and eat. Mom comes in from the living room and sits quickly sits down, watching us carefully as we ate.

"Good morning sweethearts.",

"Morning Mom." Magnolia and I say in unison.

"You guy's will love your dresses, I know you will." she says silently as I hug her tight, reassuring her.

"I know you won't let us down.", she gives me her signature warm smile and kisses my forehead.

Once we're done eating, I get up and walk towards the door with Magnolia following suit. "Where are you two heading off in such a hurry..?" mom asks.

"To the fields." I reply as I slowly put on my hiking boots, and carefully do up the laces.

"Make sure to be back in time to get dressed...",

"Don't worry!, we will!" we say in unison as we quickly run out the door and towards town.

As we walked, the roads were quiet. No one was in sight, as per every reaping day. On reaping day, you didn't have to go to work, so most people stay in until the initial reaping begins. Throughout the day the District will stay dormant like it is now, until evening when every family celebrates their children not getting picked...except two families who will continue to remain dormant, knowing that they will never see their son, daughter or relative again.

We walk to Lily and Jimmy's cottages and see that there waiting outside on their porches, their houses had two floors just like ours. They wave and beckon us to come closer, so we began to run towards them.

"Hey guys!" I pant holding my knees as the two came off of their porches and strode over to me and Magnolia.

"Hi...", "Yeah hey.." they say almost in unison, they must be pretty nervous also. Everyone aged twelve to eighteen in Panem are shaking in their boots at this very moment.

"How come Clancy isn't out yet, where is he?" Magnolia asks playing with a strand of her hair. "He went out already, apparently to the fields." Lily says, pointing to the direction of the hilly field, which also holds our Districts boundary with District Twelve's.

"Okay, I guess we better get going also." I say as we start towards the fields, making small talk but most of the trip was in silence.

We reach the end of the field, filled with rolling hills, stalks of wheat and trees. The field almost looks like it came out of a painting. District 12's mountains can be seen in the near distance. We carefully cross a security fence with a hole in it, a large ominous octagon sign that makes me cringe says in bold writing...

**"RESTRICTED AREA!, FURTHER TRESPASSING WILL RESULT IN PUNISHMENT."**

"**Beware of the elements and your surroundings!, once you pass 10 kilometres past this checkpoint, there is NO turning back!"**

The sign then has silhouettes of a bear, a wolf, water with a person drowning, a thermometer with the temperature of "**-10+**" beside it, and a mountain range. Every time we cross it I freeze in place for a second. It's not like we're trying to escape the District. If we tried it would be a useless attempt. 5 kilometres past this fence there will be another fence, guarded by armed Peacekeepers, and alive with electricity. I remember when a family of 6 tried to leave District Eleven and succeeded, only to die hours later due to the sheer cold...and wolves. I feel really awful every time I think of them, must a really hard way to go out. After their little escape, it's nearly impossible for an average citizen to leave the District, and if you tried and end up getting caught... I couldn't imagine the punishments they would give you. After crossing, we see Clancy lazily hanging in our tree that we always hang out in, we all climb up and join him.

"Hey Clancy! Why did you leave without us..?" I ask rubbing his shoulders, he stares at me then looks straight ahead again.

"I don't know.." he says quietly.

"Oh." I reply absent-mindedly looking down at my swaying feet.

We all sit in silence as Lily breaks it moments after. "Why are we beating ourselves up over a silly reaping..?" she groans. "_You don't know how right you are Lily..."_

"I don't know. We're going to be okay right?, we each signed up for tesserae a couple of times due to the crop failure, but it's not like everyone else didn't." Clancy says with a huff. He physically looks uncomfortable with the conversation.

"I have plenty to eat thanks to my tesserae!" Jimmy says mockingly as we all burst out laughing then slowly quieted down over time.

We fall into a pit of awkward silence, so silent we hear the wind blow and birds chirping. I hum some quick melodies to some mockingjays. They play it back perfectly. I should have brought my painting utensils so I could draw, now would have been a perfect time.

"We'll be fine, we need to stop worrying!" Magnolia chirps as she leans on my shoulder. "_Magnolia, she's always trying to make the best of a negative situation."_I think to myself.

"It'll be alright guys. Later on tonight we'll celebrate like everyone else." Lily said matter of factly as Jimmy, Clancy and I mutter 'Fine..', 'Yeah I guess.."

"May I ask what you guys are doing here?" we hear someone snap below us. Magnolia almost fell, but I caught her by the shirt and held her as she adjusted herself again.

I look down and gaze into the eye of Commander Ponder. He looks up at us, his eye cold, unyielding. We didn't hear his Humvee pull up.

"_Well?!_" he asks impatiently, "Don't you know this is a_restricted_area?" he barked in a monotone voice. He opens his jeep door and pulls out a radio.

"Echo three, don't worry just a bunch of kids...nothing serious." he clicks it off and beckons for us to come down to his level.

I slide down the tree, followed by Clancy, Lily, Maggie and Jimmy. Jimmy falls on Lily and Lily falls on Magnolia falling on Clancy crushing me. We quickly yet awkwardly get up and compose ourselves.

"H-hello C-Commander!" I stutter, too intimidated by his glare and general presence.

"We a-always hang out here." Magnolia said quietly looking at her feet.

The Commander sighed and paced slowly, sizing the five of us up. I was expecting to get lashes on my hands or my back...but instead he groans and rubs his temples,

"Aren't you guys supposed to be getting ready for the reapings?" he asks.

"Uh.." we all drone in unison.

"Yes!, we we're just about to leave..." I say breaking the awkward tension and start to walk away with my friends and sister as he walks in front of us and raises his hand signaling us to stop.

"Where do you think you guys are going?" he asks coldly. We all take glances at each other until Clancy spoke up.

"..Home?" Clancy retorts and rolls his eyes.

the Commander nods his head towards his jeep, "Get in the humvee, I'll drop you guys off personally."

We stare at one another in utter confusion. A Peacekeeper offering _US_ a ride home, a District _Eleven_Peacekeeper may I remind you, almost unheard of.

"Er okay?" I say getting into the back of the white Humvee as everyone slowly follows.

Commander Ponders vehicle wasn't so ominous as I would imagine it to be, It was instead surprisingly comfy. Me and Clancy sat in the second row of seats as Lily, Magnolia and Jimmy took the last row of seats. Chatter on the radio could be heard from where I was sitting. To be honest, all this stuff is foreign to me, in our District we walk to our destinations. It's hard to believe that not too long ago, before Panem, everyone drove to their destinations. I wonder if I'll ever see that happen in my lifetime. We all keep silent as the commanders humvee drove back into town.

After half an hours worth of a ride, me and Magnolia are the first to get dropped off, our mother standing on the porch with a look of concern on her face, her arms are folded on her chest. Ponder stopped and held the door open as Magnolia and I stepped out.

"See you later!" Magnolia waves as Clancy, Lily and Jimmy cautiously waved behind the glass.

"I think these two belong to you ma'am." Ponder said coldly as he stepped aside so we could walk towards our mother, Magnolia stood at my mothers right as I stood by her left. She put her arms around our shoulders protectively as we timidly looked back at the commander.

"I hope they didn't cause an issue for you?", mom smiled as the Commander shook his head, "No, they did not..but next time they may not be so lucky...", he nodded goodbye and turned back towards his jeep and drove off.

"Where have you guys been?" Mom asks quietly as she hurries us inside.

"We were hanging out near the border." I say as she sits us down on our living room couch. She sighs and giggles lightly, "You guys need to be more careful!" she chirps sauntering over to mannequins covered in black tarp. She takes a deep breath and pulls it off. I gasp in amazement. Our reaping dresses looked amazing! They were both white with ruffles and blue frilly belts, our flats were also blue. Our dresses weren't like what most girls had, which was usually somewhat worn, old material.

"Well!?, what do you think?!" Mom says smiling, desperately waiting for our opinion. I looked at her then glanced back at our dresses trying to find words.

"I-I..um, wow haha! I love it!", I shriek and hug mom as Magnolia claps her hands happily in approval.

"I knew you guys would like it." she said. "We have an hour to get ready, so let me fix your hair up and then you can change." she says as we sit down in front of her. Mom dabbed her hands into a clear goo and caressed our hair with it. After fifteen minutes of massaging our hair, it turned from straight to bouncy and somewhat curly.

She finished off our hairstyles by adding a blue rose bulb into our hair. She guided us to a mirror so we could take a look. Both of us didn't say a word, but only gasped and looked on. I played with my soft silky curls, and then moved to the rose absent-mindedly as I took myself in.

"You guy's look so beautiful, too bad it's for a situation like this." mom said sadly shaking her head and then let out a deep sigh looking up slightly into the air. She put her hands to her mouth and teared up.

"Aww! It's okay mom!" me and Magnolia chirp as we both hug her in a death grip, she returns the hug then quickly gives us our dresses and ushers us up the stairs, I hate when me and Magnolia say things at the same time, it's as if we share the same brain.

"Go on!, I need to take care of your sister and brother..they need to look good too you know!" she coos as we rush up the stairs. We change into our dresses and sit down in our reading chairs until she calls us back down.

"You guys can go ahead, we'll be there soon." she says firmly holding Sage and Rose by the chest, preventing them from hitting each other as they giggle and stick their tongues at one another. I shrug as we walk out the door and down the street. Before I left I took up three daisies from our front porch.

We walk towards Lily,Clancy and Jimmy's cottages en route to the reapings hoping that they would be there. When we saw them and they saw us, they quickly got from their porches, sprinted towards us and took a lengthy glance at the two of us. They squinted their eyes in confusion.

"Whoa... okay! Which one of you is Emery, or Magnolia?" Jimmy says circling us as Maggie and I giggle in unison.

"You guys look really nice!" Lily chirps, "You guys don't look so bad yourselves." I wink and observe my friends attires. Lily wore a simple white dress with her hair groomed. The boys looked just as groomed with white dress shirts and black slacks. What they wore looked very new like our dresses.

"You guys look a hundred percent alike.." Clancy says intriguingly poking at my rose on my head.

Lily's eyes shift from me to Magnolia and she lets out a laugh, "Come on guys...lets get this crap over with.." Lily groaned and waved us along as we began walking down the street.

As we walked deeper into town, people's windows and shutters were locked and no neighbours sat on their porches and happily spoke about current happenings. It was like a ghost town. We start to see others on their way to the Justice building, clinging to one another. Their eyes and posture show their nervousness, tiredness...I guess insomnia has claimed multiple victims today. As we progress towards the justice building, we started to walk past the District's graveyard until I stopped in my tracks.

"Umm guys, you go up ahead. I'll meet you guys at the JusticeBuilding." I say quickly as my friends turn around and eyed me suspiciously.

"Are you sure?" asks Jimmy. His voice had a hint of concern as he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes! Positive, go go!" I say shooing them down the street. I compose myself and take a deep breath, then venture into the graveyard.

As I came into the graveyard I exhale and sigh. Surprisingly, I love it here in the graveyard. Its calm, daisies and roses are everywhere, the air smells of a floral aroma. I could stay here all day if no one came looking for me. It's odd that a graveyard would make me feel this way. But, I'm not here because of that, I'm here for Dawn.

"H.I..J..K..L..M..M! Here we are.." I say heading off into the "M" section. A few headstones in, I see the one I'm looking for. Dawn's headstone was below a blossom tree. Quickly, I speed walk towards the headstone and stop.

"Dawn Mayflower"

b.2127 d.2140

"Beloved Friend. Person. Daughter."

Reads the tombstones description. I sigh and take the daisy's I picked earlier and carefully place them in front of her grave. She liked daisies the most out of any flower. There was never one time I would ever catch her not sporting one in between an ear.

"Hey Dawn.." I began to say as I started to slowly pace.

"As you may know, today is reaping day. Here's to hoping I don't get picked!" I laugh quietly and pat the stone.

"Everyone misses you Dawn, your mom is doing fine I guess. I didn't get the time to see her in a bit.. I made a portrait of you! You would have liked it..."

There's a short pause before I continued. I took in a breath and began to teeter uncontrollably.

"I _really_ miss you Dawn! Your death was so unfair! You should have came back home to us!" my voice breaks when I say her name and multiple strands of tears flow from my eyes.

To prevent wrecking my dress, I hold back the tears. I miss her babyish giggle when she greets someone... I miss swimming with her, I miss everything about her. I can't go one day without thinking about what used to be.

"Not a day goes by where-" I sniffle and continue to sway from left to right,

"Where I don't see you playing in the fields or swimming in our river, or singing to the mockingjays...and um, I guess that's all I have to say for now. I hope you're doing good like I am...You were the most perfect friend a person could ask for." and with that, I clap my hands together and point both my index fingers towards her gravestone, then walk off towards the Justice Building.

After a five minute walk I'm soon in line with other kids waiting to get registered. The line was dead silent and only slight grumbles could be heard. My stomach tensed up as it was my turn to get registered.

"Finger." snapped the female Peacekeeper sitting down in front of me.

"Huh!?" I say confusingly as she snapped her fingers, and pointed to my hand.

"Finger please." she said again as I carefully held out my finger. Her voice lacked basic emotion, it was almost mechanical in nature. She pricked my index finger and smudged it against an identification card.

I am then escorted to the twelve year olds section. Jimmy waved at me as Clancy nodded sternly then looked ahead towards the stage in the fourteen year old male section. As I look at the Justice building I see Mayor Fleming and Commander Ponder sitting on velvet chairs in front of a giant screen showcasing Panem's seal on a blue background over the entrance of the Justice building. A podium is situated in the middle of the stage, flanking the podium were the infamous glass balls holding our names.

I glanced at Mayor Fleming as he impatiently checked his watch and stared off into the crowd. The mayor was a fit man for his age, he was white and his hair was short and greying, his suit was a simple grey and sported a blue and gold sash, he looked tired and restless. Ponder's uniform was decorated with medals and commendations, he boasted a look of pride and ignorance. As I settled into my section, I moved over to where Magnolia was situated.

"Hey!, where were you?" Magnolia hissed as she prodded me in my side with her finger. "I had to deal with some things..." I say dismissively as she happily shrugs and looks forward towards the stage. _"Here we go.."_I think to myself, _"Judgement day.."**.**_I gulp and stare forward towards the stage as the crowd stopped muttering and went dead silent.

Mayor Fleming slowly got up from his seat and sauntered towards the podium. He began the reaping by talking about how before Panem, we lived in a landmass called "North America", North America and the rest of the world at that time experienced rising sea levels and catastrophic disasters. A bit after these disasters, Panem was created out of the ashes of North America, governed by a Capitol and made up of thirteen nation states known as Districts. Then he calls out our Districts past victors. We have four up-to date, with our youngest being thirty year old twins. I knew Mr. Chaff and Ms. Seeder, but not the latest ones, Vincent and Persephone L'amoreaux. Both of their games were pretty gruesome from what I hear. Persephone looked like Dawn almost with the long white hair and dark blue eyes, she had a motherly look about her as she sat down and out her left leg over her right one in an elegant blue dress.

Vincent on the other hand, looked like he didn't want to be here. His white hair was cut to a medium and slicked. This and the slimmed black and grey pinstripe suit he wore made him look like a business person. For a thirty year old man, he looked old enough to be in his late forties. He took a drink of something out of a flask and passed it over to Chaff, who gladly accepted it.

The victors sat beside the mayor and the head Peacekeeper as everyone's eyes turned to the jumbotron as a short propaganda message played.

"War...Terrible War..." President Snow's voice boomed during the video showing archival footage of the dark days as he's reciting the treaty of treason in the background. I found it very interesting on a whole, most of what the rebels rebelled over were petty issues. My great great grandmother's journal had basically everything you wanted to learn about the dark days and how she lived through it everyday. She wrote about hiding in bomb shelters, and witnessing battles in city ruins during nuclear winter...now here we are paying the price for it. I shake my head of my thoughts and my heartbeat rises as Minnie La Fontaine pranced up to the microphone.

Her golden brown hair had a white flower in it, it was in a wavy short at chin length style and looked soft layered. her face was oval shaped and her skin ghost white sporting only red lipstick. She wore black heels, with a sparkling blue sleeveless dress with black buttons in the waist, and sported a midsection length dark grey mink jacket, most likely made of animal skin. Her figure was curvaceous and lean. Despite most Capitol women, she looked attractive. She also had a stylish purse over her right shoulder. In her purse was her Pomeranian puppy. She herself looks like she could be in her late 20s. She cocked her hips to the side and tapped the microphone.

"Good afternoon boys and girls!" she chirped and waved happily to the crowd as we all muttered a polite "Good afternoon." back to her.

"Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the 67th Annual Hunger Games." She purred into the microphone.

Her accent along with all Capitolites, are so bizarre. I watched as the mayor, Ponder and Vincent eyed Minnie like a walking piece of candy.

"Today is the day we once again choose two children, _one male one female!,_to take part in the 67th Hunger Games and bring pride to their District!" she clapped her hands cheerfully and let out a "Woo!". I don't see what's so happy about sending children to an early grave..

"Let's not waste anymore time shall we!, as they always say...Ladies first." she happily skips over to the bowl on the left. The only thing that could be heard is her heels clicking against the stage.

My heart burns and aches when she swirls her hands over the bowl and slowly caresses all the ballots in the bowl. After what seems like forever she quickly snatches a ballot out of the bowl making a quick "_Swoop!"_sound. Minnie gives a sly smirk and struts back towards the podium. She takes a deep breath and opens the ballot. The corners of her lips turn into a smile...

.

.

.

.

.

"Miss Emery Smithsonian!"

_Oh no.._

Everyone near me slowly strode backwards leaving a small circle with me and Magnolia in it once my name was called. They gazed at me with remorse, and guilt and funnily, confusion. As they didn't know who was who.

"Am I seeing double?" Minnie asks and then bursts into a soft fit of laughter as her puppy barks once. She suddenly stops laughing as she takes a good look at us, the sides of her lips twitched into a hesitant smile. She's probably taking in my age as a factor. Ironically the puppy makes a sad whimper as well.

"Well... Emery if you please?" she gestures towards the stage.

I take a deep breath, shaking as a tear runs down my cheek. I walk out of the row and slowly made my way towards the stage. I look towards my mother hoping that her smile would comfort me, but her face is instead in my father's chest, suppressing her cries.

I looked over to Clancy and Jimmy as they look at me sadly. Clancy bites his lower lip and quickly looks forward as Jimmy slowly and angrily shook his head in my direction. A tear ran down his cheek as he looked straight ahead. I could tell he was extremely angry.

I then look back towards the stage to see Minnie cautiously smiling at me as she beckoned me to come forward. The adults in the crowd murmur with disapproval as I walk steadily to the stage. Everything about this is unfair...I feel as if my knees were going to give way with each step I took, every breath I took in felt rigid.

"**Emery NO!**, please don't go!" Magnolia shrieks as she desperately latches on to my hand. I try to keep going but Lily joins in also, and a bunch of more girls I know latch on to me, all sobbing for me not to go. This is too much for me to handle, so I end up crying also.

**"No!, No!, No!, PLEASE!"** Magnolia sobs as we all pull in for a group hug. I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I embrace all my friends.

After a couple of minutes of hugging, Peacekeepers hustle me towards the stage. As I slowly make my way up on stage, the Mayor, commander and the victors look at me sadly yet awkwardly. Knowing deep down that this is isn't right. I wipe my face front and keep a neutral look towards the crowd.

"Any volunteers..?", asks Minnie as the crowd remains silent. I don't blame them. Volunteering is for the extremely stupid..or the crazy brave.

"Well...erm, uh." Minnie composes herself.

"There you have it, Emery Smithsonian!...now for the young man!" she walks past me and whispers,

"_I'm sorry love.._".

Not wasting anymore time, she puts her hand into the boy's bowl and whips out a ballot. She slowly walks toward the podium and clears her throat.

.

.

.

.

"Mister Clancy Carmichael."

I let out a small gasp as all the boys let out a groan of heartfelt disapproval and sorry. Clancy's face grew upset as Jimmy and the boys near him patted his back and gripped his shoulders, Peacekeepers dragged him halfway up the aisle before he angrily thrashed them to the floor. Those who were closest to the aisle including myself gasped at the display of strength.

"Get your _hands_ off of me!" Clancy barked as the Peacekeepers cautiously gave Clancy some space. I've never seen him this angry before, he's always a quiet person...I guess it's the most quiet people you have to watch out for.

Clancy walked up the stage and onto the left hand side of the podium. Minnie waited a minute for volunteers to which the crowd retained its silence. Minnie then awkwardly let out a happy yelp and raised our hands.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!, your tributes for the 67th Hunger Games! Miss Smithsonian and Mister Carmichael! Happy Hunger Games!, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" she chirps as she turns towards us,

"Shake hands if you may?", we look towards one another, I gaze into Clancy's deep brown eyes and his into mine. We nod and give each other firm handshakes as the anthem played.

The crowd lightly claps for what I think was three seconds before we were ushered into the Justice building. I was escorted into a lavish room and was told to sit on a velvet sofa and wait for visitors. It was from that point on I let out all my tears. Why me?, why do I have to go through this? As much as I don't want this to be real...it is.

I look out the window and watch as people hug one another and start back towards their homes. Lucky them... they get to live another year.

I get up out of my seat as my parents and my brother and sister rush through the door, Magnolia wasn't included. We stand and stare at each other for a split second before I run towards my mother and hold her tight, it feels so good to be in my mother's arms.

"I'd never think this day would come..." Daddy says getting on his knees and hugging me.

"Daddy, I won't last five mi-",

Daddy cuts me off by gripping my shoulders, this almost catches me by surprise.

"Don't let me hear that sweetie. I did not bring a quitter into this world..." he smiles and caresses my hair lovingly. I smile a bit as he chuckles to himself, then sighs.

"You're a smart girl Emmy, you can sort poison greens from edible ones, you can handle bladed farming equipment and you're a runner! Do the best that you can and never _ever_give up." he kisses my cheeks and stands up.

Sage and Rose double team me into a hug, I rub their backs soothingly as I heard them silently whimper. I also felt my dress becoming a little wet from their tears.

"Sage..Rose, be good for me okay? Listen to mom, and try not to fight all the time." I say sternly as they start to tear up more and nod their heads. Although all they can decipher from this is that I'll be leaving for...awhile. I turn them back towards my father, and embrace my mother for the last time.

"I love you Mom.." I say rubbing her stomach. The saddest thing about this is my newborn brother or sister will never know who their big sister Emery was.

"You come back home to me safe and sound, got it?" she says wiping her tears away.

"I'll try." I say as commander Ponder comes in and escorts my family out of the room. Before they go we come together for one last hug then pull away. I managed to squeak out an "I love you!" before they got taken out. The door flew open again as Jimmy, Lily and Magnolia ran in and tackled me to the ground.

"Easy!" I say as they smother me to death. We all get off up the ground and hold one another closely.

"I'll miss you guys." I say barely whispering.

"I'll make sure to help you and Clancy get sponsor money for food by selling more in the marketplace." said Jimmy quietly as he rubbed my side reassuringly.

"We'll try our best Emery." Lily says as she wipes her tears away then breaks out sobbing as we pull in for another hug.

I turn back towards Jimmy as he grips me tight, I return the hug with the same amount of strength as he kisses me lightly on the cheek. He turns to a crying Lily and escorts her out the room leaving me and Magnolia alone. She breaks down almost immediately as I ran into her arms.

"I'll miss you.." Magnolia sobbed as she held onto me.

"I'll miss you more." I say as we stay in this position for three more minutes until Commander Ponder came in and took Magnolia away.

After Magnolia, my classmates came as one group to say goodbye. Moments after Ponder came back in, "You have one more visiting group.". he moves aside as Dawn's mother and two older brothers move in, he then closes the door.

"Mrs. Mayflower!?, Robert!, Portland!" I say as I hug them then move towards Mrs. Mayflower as she pulls me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry dear.." she whispers into my ear, "I want to give you something...It was Dawn's, if she were here she would have loved for you to have it...",

"I'm sorry about Daw-"

"Don't be dear. She's in a better place." she smiles warmly and beckons for me to hold out my hand. I do what she says and she places a blue monarch butterfly brooch into my hands. As I moved it around in my hand, the rhinestones encrusted in it made it glimmer.

"It's beautiful!" I exclaim as I hug her again.

"It's no problem. now excuse me, I need to speak with Clancy." she then leaves the room and I'm left alone for another three minutes. Afterwards, I was whisked away from the room and put in a fancy car to drive down to the train station, which would take us to the Capitol.

"_All right Emery...be strong! You can do this. Being weak will get you_ _nowhere..."_I repeat to myself.

* * *

**Clancy Carmichael.**

My heart dropped as Emmy's name was called. She's too young for this foolishness we call "The Hunger Games..". She's a smart girl... but her personality wouldn't help when it comes to the initial fighting in the arena. Dawn was good, and they were practically the same age. Ugh, I hope whoever gets chosen protects Emery to the best of their ability.

"Now for the boys..!" Minnie chirps as she made her way to our bowl she picked a ballot and made her way back to the podium.

.

.

.

"Clancy Carmichael.", my name rang inside my brain like a school bell.

_"Damn it!Damn it!Damn it!"_ was what the little voice was screaming in the back of my head as my pals from school gave their condolences.

I'm extremely upset. Why am I being sent to fight for my life because of things that my ancestors did!?, but who am I to say I had a chance of not getting picked? my name was bowl tons of times... As the 'Keepers came and tried to forcefully escort me to the stage, I forcefully shrug them off and yell "Get your hands off of me!". If I was going somewhere, I'd go on my own accord, not theirs.

They gave me space as I walked up to the podium. Minnie came and lightly guided me to the left of the podium. I glared into the camera just like my brother instructed, to make me look more intimidating to other tributes. Minnie asked for volunteers and waited a minute if someone wanted to make up their mind. After the minute passed she let out a happy squeal and chirped,

"Ladies and Gentlemen!, your tributes for the 67th Hunger Games!, Miss Smithsonian, Mister Carmichael, Happy Hunger Games!, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!".

She looked to us and chirped "Shake hands if you may?" and backed away as me and Emery stared at each other. I looked into her beautiful eyes, she was shaken, scared. I gave her a reassuring nod and shook her hand as the crowd clapped for a moment as we were asked to follow Commander Ponder into the JusticeBuilding. I was escorted into a fancy room and requested to wait for people to come say their last farewells.

I take in a deep breath and lay on the couch staring up into the ceiling. I have a good chance of winning. With all the training I got I'm basically a B-grade career tribute. I have the necessary skills to at least make it to the final six. I'm interrupted in my thought's as my mom, brother and little sister come into the room.

"Mom!" I say shooting up from the sofa as she comes further into the room with my brother and little sister.

"Oh Clancy.." she pulls me into a hug but doesn't shed any tears, she's a very strong woman. Even when dad passed on she kept strong for the three of us.

"I'll miss you mom." I say gripping her tight,

"I guess this is goodbye Dew.." I say quietly as I lift my three year old sister off the ground and into my arms. Dew gives me a light smile before I pass her back to my mom.

"Remember what we talked about Clancy," Lance said placing his hands on my shoulders, "You have a chance.", I nod as mom slipped a necklace with a ring on it over my shoulder.

I look up and her and raise an eyebrow. "It was your father's wedding ring." she said kissing my forehead before a Peacekeeper ushered them out of the room.

After my family visited, Dawn's mother came and told me to "be careful" and "Use proper judgement", sounds like she's giving me a talk about a touchy subject I'd rather not get into. After that my school's soccer team came to say goodbye, followed by some other schoolmates. Then Magnolia, Lily and Jimmy came rushing in.

"I'm so sorry Clancy.." Lily said pulling me into a hug, I return it as Jimmy put his arm around my shoulder.

"Don't worry about a thing, I'll sell more things in the marketplace so that you and Emery get enough sponsor money." he said glumly.

"Thank you.." I say as me and Lily embrace for the last time as she and Jimmy left leaving Magnolia standing quietly off to the side.

"Hey Magnolia," I say pulling her into a hug, she looks down to the floor as I pull away.

"You don't need to worry about me Maggie...I'll be fine!"

"Yes I know that...but what about Emery?" she says silently,

"...I'll do what I can,"

"She likes you," she said slightly whispering, "I know that." I say rolling my eyes,

"No, she _likes_ you likes you...take care of her, please," she said leaving the room before I could respond.

I stood in the middle of the room dumbfounded. Taking in what she just said to me.

"Emery likes me..?" I say as the corner of my lips turn into a smile. She maybe twelve, but it's only a two year difference... but it's not like it'll ever work out, not in this situation... I rose as a Peacekeeper came in and escorted me into a car with Emery, taking in our District's scenery knowing that I may not ever come back again.

* * *

**Tyler: Thanks for taking the time to read those of you who do. I really appreciate it. :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Spinel

Chapter 3: Spinel.

* * *

**Spinel Phoenix, District One, 17 yrs old.**

I jolt from my sleep as my alarm clock goes off. I reset my clock as a smug smile spreads across my face, It's reaping day!, today's the day I volunteer and win the games. I get up from off my bed and walk to my mirror and brush my long black hair, I notice that my twelve year old sister Sapphire isn't in the room, probably went off to the academy early... I guess I should get some training in before I volunteer.

Satisfied with the way my hair looks, I go the washroom to brush my teeth. Once I come back I put on my training fatigues which include a black muscle shirt, camouflage cargo pants, and black combat boots. I strode towards my shelf and took my belt of wide array of knives and put them on my waist. I quickly walk down stairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Halfway down the stairs I almost tripped but managed to stabilize myself.

I nod to my mom who was leaning on our brown marble countertop. She wore a blue pantsuit that suited her brown neck length curly hair. As she drank her coffee out of a white mug she had the looks of a popular socialite but then again, she was a former victor after all. I sat down and dig in to my pancakes set down for me on our table. I manage to beat back my over excitement and finish them all.

"Where's Sapphire?" I ask,

"Training..." my mother turns around gives me a sympathetic look, "Spinel, do you really have to go through with this...?" she frowns and rubs my shoulders.

I scoff, Me and her have repeatedly had this conversation over and over for the past year. She doesn't want me to volunteer because she thinks I'm driven by rage...She's right, a little bit. I'm volunteering earlier to get revenge on District 11's female tribute for my cousin's death at the hands of a pathetic 13 year old from that District.

I stand up and tower over her, I'm pretty amazed with how tall I am...I wish I were shorter just a tad. I gently hold her by the shoulders,

"I do, I do have to go through with this. I'm going to volunteer and get payback. There's nothing you can do about it mom."

"Fine." she sighed and took a long sip of her coffee.

I smirk and kiss her cheek. "I'll be back within the next hour. I'll be fine mom." I say leaving the kitchen and walking out the door.

As I walk out the door I hear my name being called,

"Hey Spin..." I jump and look to my left. My good friend Lucifer Jones casually leans against my porch and takes a bite of his apple.

He's taller by 3 inches, me being 6''0 and him being 6''3, his hair is black and casually thrown back, his pitch black circle framed glasses block his cute hazel eyes. He also happens to be a cousin of a victor, I forgot the victor's name. All I know is that he is the winner of the shortest Hunger Game in history, lasting two days.

I lean in and give him a quick hug. "You startled me." I say as he chuckles lightly.

"You Startled...? " he rolls his eyes as we walk down the steps of my home and down the street towards the training academy.

"I like the way you did your hair," I say patting his neck and carefully ruffling his hair. He raises an eyebrow,

"You doing the games this year?" he asks throwing the core of the apple he was eating in a garbage can.

I look up at him and smile, "Of course,"

"Good, because I am also." he smirks and puts an arm around my shoulder. As we leave victors village and proceed across town.

I groan as we approach the more "less fortunate" part of our District. Houses here were one floor and somewhat run down compared to two floor homes in richer parts. This area is also full of perverts and schmoes who don't do anything with their lives. They always hang out on a park bench and say vulgar things to me and other girls while we're on our way to the academy.

"Hey dollface." one of them says as another one makes a hooting noise as I roll my eyes in turn away. Lucifer shakes his head in disgust then taps my shoulder,

"_Psst_!..watch this." he says and In a split second, he takes out a knife from my belt and tosses it at one of the men at the bench, landing in between his legs.

"Didn't anyone tell you to treat women with respect..?" Lucifer says making a shooing motion with his hands. The bewildered men on the bench grumble and walk away as Lucifer takes out the knife lodged in the wooden bench and puts it back in my belt. He winks at me as we move on towards the academy.

We reach the academy that was recently changed name wise my cousins honour as he was one of the best and brightest of the academy.

'SilasPhoenixQuartsPrepAcademy'

was the new name. You'd think from the name it was some preppy nerdy school, you're in for a surprise. Silas would have been a fine victor if that stupid thirteen year old didn't take that opportunity away from him. I see Sapphire lounging around near the entrance, so we approach her. She's like the miniature version of me, same tan skin and long flowing hair...if she were any older, she could pass as my twin.

"Hey Spinel !" Sapphire chirps as she runs into me for a hug. I struggle a little bit but end up giving in and returning the hug as Lucifer snickers in the background. While Sapphire's back is turned towards him and her face in my chest, I quickly stick my middle finger at him which makes him laugh even louder. Lucifer holds the door as we enter through.

"So, do you know who's trying to volunteer this year?" I ask Sapphire as we enter into the training area.

"Only you, Opal and...Sparkle. I think." she says nodding vigorously,

"What about the boys?" Lucifer asked sternly.

"...Alot." Sapphire said with a giggle as Lucifer rubbed his temples and grunts an "Ugh..", then storms off to the swordplay station.

Sapphire waves goodbye and goes to the bows and arrows as I go to practice my knife throwing skills.

"Hey Spinel!" a little eight year old boy I knew as Luminous squeaked as he waved towards me. He had the cutest shaggy blond hair and striking blue eyes.

"Hey Lumi. How's the ax throwing going for you?" I ask folding my arms.

"It's going great thanks to you! I'll be like Lucifer in no time!" He chirps as he tosses an axe into the head of a dummy. I give him a stern nod, ruffle his hair and continue on towards another set of dummies. Kids like Luminous may look weak, but they can kill and maim like any other career if you train them right.

I unsheathed one knife out of my belt and quickly throw it at the dummy in front of me, making a hard 'Thump' sound as it hits its neck. That would have been a kill if it were a real target. I take out two knives from my belt and toss them at another dummy, one hitting its abdomen and the other its shoulder, that would've been a delayed kill if not tended to as soon as possible. I was about to toss another knife with my left hand until it was stopped by someone else mid-throw. The knife sailed through the air and hit the dummy in the kneecap. I let out a deep breath and looked up into the air in anger. "_Someone had better have a damn good reason of why they interrupted me..."_

"Why hello there Spinel!" the voice was laced with sarcasm and ignorance. _"There's only one person whose voice I hate more than anything in the world..."_ I think to myself.

I turn around and see that it's Sparkle, a girl who I despise a lot. She was a year older than I was. Her brown hair was tied into a ponytail, her light brown eyes gazing into my dark ones. I groan loudly as she giggles.

"So.." she says twirling a knife in her hands, "I hear that you're trying to volunteer this year..." she stands beside me and grunts as she tosses the knife she had at the dummy beside mine, hitting it in the head. If she was trying to intimidate me...It didn't work. If anything it just peeved me off more.

I shrug, "...Maybe? What's it to you?" I say coldly as she followed me towards the spears section.

"Well there's a _slight_ issue with your plan," she says watching me pick up a spear.

As I size up my spear and study it, I laugh obnoxiously and roll my eyes, "Oh yeah!? Please oh please tell me about my _'slight issue'!_ I scoff and toss my spear full force at the practice dummy 15 feet away, hitting the dummy in the stomach and making it topple over.

"_I'm_volunteering this year not _you,_" she scowled.

"Okay...we'll see about that _'pal'_." I say turning back to my spearing, tossing another spear into the heart of the dummy I made topple over.

"Or.." she continued,

"You can volunteer and end up like your cousin Silas?..and get killed by a pathetic little girl?" her voice was disarming yet full of venom. Her remark set me off.

I turned around and gave her a backhanded slap, it was so loud that everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in our direction, then ran over to see what was going on. "Don't talk about my cousin that way." I say glaring at her, she tackled me full force to the ground and punching match insured. We were pulled apart by Lucifer and our instructor.

"Alright ladies that's enough.." our instructor says pushing us to separate spots. "As you all know ladies and gentlemen, the spots for tribute at the games are up for grabs...the early bird gets the worm." he says as the bell rings,

"Now go home and get ready!, try not to kill one another just yet.." he says with a smile.

Sapphire escorts me back to the knife throwing area as I glare at Sparkle and she glares back. I take my knives from out the target dummy's I used and walk out the door, me and Sapphire broke out into a full sprint all the way home. As we get home I quickly rush up the stairs and put on a black skirt with a blue blouse. I brush my hair and put on a necklace with a yellow dull cut spinel, the gemstone I was named after. I throw on some black heels and wait at the door. Sapphire comes down the stairs panting and holding my shoulder, she wore a simple gold overskirt dress with a sapphire necklace. "Hold on Spin! gosh.", I roll my eyes and pull her along all the way to the Justice building.

We register with the peacekeepers and go to our respective lines. Mayor Amethyst and our District's escort, Ritchie LaFontaine sat down on thrones as people flooded in. I walk past Lucifer and he gives me a smug smile as I get into the seventeen year olds section, one section beside his. As soon as everyone gets settled Mayor Amethyst gets up and walks up to the microphone.

She gives the same stupid speech about how we were once North America..then North America faced extreme disasters and war...Then Panem rose out of the ashes, blah blah blah. She then calls out all the victors of previous games, we had a lot of victors such as Cashmere, Gloss, My mom and dad and Lucifer's cousin, they take their seats as the propaganda film plays. During the film I notice that everyone was growing restless and uneasy. This tribute spot may be hard to get but I'm willing to throw some fists if need be.

Once the film is done Ritchie walks up to the microphone and taps it, then clears his throat. Ritchie had long curly white hair, with red circular frame glasses. The suit he wore was red, double breasted and his dress shoes white with black. He looked smug and posh as he casually leaned on his cane and studied his nails.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen!, Welcome welcome to the 67th Annual Hunger Games reaping!" he said in a calm Capitol accent. The crowd cheers as he lets out hearty chuckle,

"Well!, let's not waste anytime!", He took out a cane and twirled it as he walked towards the boys bowl. He took out a ballot and opened it up, all the boys loosened up and prepare to bum rush the stage. I prepare for the fray that will come within the next 5 seconds.

.

"Berilo De Kli-"

"I VOLUNTEER!" multiple voices erupt across the crowd. Multiple boys sprint, push, and shove for the stage in a frantic attempt to take the tribute spot, Lucifer dives for the stage and rolls to his feet, beating the other boys.

"YES!" he jeers as he looks down at us from the stage. He dares anyone to try to take him by glaring at the male audience.

"Well oh my! it seems that we have a volunteer!" Ritchie laughs as the boys growl and groan at not making it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name..?" Ritchie chirped as he gave Lucifer the microphone.

"The name's Lucifer Jones." Lucifer replied giving a sly smirk and nodded towards the camera.

"I love that name!, sounds very...'Classy'!" Ritchie exclaimed as he sauntered towards the female's bowl. It was my turn to get ready. _"I volunteer..I volunteer.."_ I whisper to myself as Ritchie quickly takes a ballot out of the bowl. Dad gives me a stern look, mentally telling me to get ready.

.

.

"Ru-"

"I VOLUNTEER, I VOLUNTEER!" I shriek before anyone else could, therefore no one could argue.

Regardless of me saying it first, girls fast walk towards the stage. I shove past other girls and quickly approach Sparkle. Sparkle was about to get on the stage as I tug her foot and she topples over, I then get on the stage and hold my knees and raise my fists in victory.

"And your name is?" Ritchie asks as he's silently chuckling to himself. I take the microphone and compose myself.

"Spinel...Spinel Phoenix, your next victor." I say proudly smiling to the camera in triumph as I hear Sparkle scowl.

"I absolutely _**adore**_your confidence dear! Well ladies and gentlemen, there you have it! your tributes for the 67th Hunger Games! May the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" the crowd roars with applause as me and Lucifer happily shake hands as the national anthem plays.

"_I hope your ready for me Panem, 'Spinel Phoenix! victor of the 67th Hunger Games!'..heh, has a nice ring to it..."_

Peacekeepers guide me to the waiting lounge and a split second after, Mom, Dad and Sapphire barge into the room.

"Best wishes Spinel, I can't wait to see you on your victory tour." Mom chirped giving me a hug and carefully placed a yellow gemmed ring on my finger. I smile and pull her into a hug as she backs away slowly. Sapphire pulls me into a hug, even though her face is buried in my blouse I could hear her faint cries and whimpers.

"It'll be fine Sapp, quit crying." I say ruffling her hair. She nods sadly and follows mom out of the room as dad stands in his place, studying me with his light brown eyes. He was built like a head Peacekeeper and acted like one also. He wants nothing but the best for me, sometimes taking my preparation way too seriously.

"What are you going to do?" He asked sternly.

"Win." I say smiling.

"Excuse me..?" He raised an eyebrow, "Couldn't hear you."

"I'm going to _win_!" I say coldly.

"What!?" He yells taking a step forward,

"I'M GOING TO WIN!" I bark in his face as he lets out a laugh and rubs my back in approval.

"That's my girl! haha! Now you get in there..get your hands on any weapon you wish, Join Two and Four...or any other worthy kid, then mess up the competition..no survivors."

"Yes sir." I smile back at him as he opens his arms for a hug which I happily accept. We stay like this until a Peacekeeper comes in and escorts my dad out.

I'm going to make my father, my family and my District proud.

* * *

**Tyler: Thanks for reading :), RIP Seymour Hoffman aka Plutarch Heavensbee... :( **

**_*Sniff *Sniff..._**


	4. Chapter 4: Anyone's Game

Chapter 3: Anyone's Game.

**"It's always dangerous to underestimate anybody..."**

**-King Abdullah II****.**

* * *

**Emery.**

Clancy let out a low whistle as my mouth made a perfect "O" shape as we looked at the train that would be taking us to the Capitol. The train looked amazing on the outside...I wonder what it's like on the inside?

"Come along children!" Minnie chirped as she led us onto the train.

Everything inside of the train was so..different. There were computers and consoles everywhere, we had our own rooms and different compartments for anything you could think of. Minnie led us to the back end of the train passing our rooms and opened a slide door, revealing an observation compartment. The observation compartment had a giant glass window you could look out of, and had fancy sofas you could sit on. I sit on a sofa and stare out the window, taking in Eleven's scenery, knowing that my chances of coming home were second to none. I take my right hand and put it on the glass.

"You guys have free time until I come and collect you to watch the reapings." Minnie smiles as she leaves the two of us alone.

I feel awkward so I excuse myself also. "Um. Clancy..?" I say sheepishly, "I'm going to my room.", he nods and continues to gaze out the window as the train began to move.

As I made my way to my room I made a slight "Eep!" sound as the train began to move faster. As I opened my room door my eyes exploded out of my head.

"Wow..." I murmur as I flop onto my bed, the bed felt amazing to lay down on.

Never could I once think that I'd have a room like this in my lifetime, the bed was huge! I had a washroom to myself and a compartment full of outfits to choose from. I take off my reaping dress and take a shower, well..._tried_to take a shower, the buttons were confusing at first but I got a sense of how to get it all working. There was a wide array of soaps but I ended up choosing a banana flavoured soap and lathered with it, once I washed off I turned on what appeared to be a dryer and within ten seconds I was dried off. I took a purple robe from off a handle as I sorted through my clothing compartment. There was so much clothing to choose from, but I choose black jeans with a blue and white striped sweater in the end. I lay on my bed and drift off to sleep for half an hour.

I awake from my sleep as I hear sudden barking and light knocking on my door.

"Emery dear, it's time to come eat and watch the reapings!" Minnie said with one more knock. I open my door as Minnie's puppy happily stood on its hind legs and hugged my leg. It looked like a small puffy golden ball of joy. I pet its head as I give it a warm smile, I then pick it up and giggle lightly as it licks my cheek.

"His name is Mars and ooh! you smell nice!" Minnie says taking a whiff of the air, then smirks at me, turns around and walks down the car as I follow.

I continue walking with her towards the dining room. As soon as I set foot in the room the aroma of food hit my nose and my mouth began to water. I gazed at the extravagant golden table that held all sorts of food, ranging from soups to different types of salads. The dining room itself looked extravagant as well, there was a fake fireplace with a TV on top of it accompanied with a beautiful table in the middle of the room for people to sit down and eat on. Minnie sat down and took a salad for herself as her dog neatly ate from its bowl while I shyly stood and waited.

"What's wrong?" asked Minnie,

"Haven't you seen food like this before?" I shook my head no as she put her left hand to her heart and made an "Aww!" sound.

"Come on love, it's free and you can have as much as you want!", she giggled and guides me to the food table. I look up to her and give her a warm smile.

"There's a bunch of things here...There's salad with chicken bits drizzled in an orange sauce, my personal favourite. There are all sorts of soups, breads, everything you can think of! haha!" she drawled as I nodded and sampled each dish.

For some reason I don't know, I feel as if Minnie is like another mother to me. The way she cared about me not seeing this much food in my life before was weird. She's from the Capitol...They usually don't care. I pick up a bowl of crab meat stew and sit down in front of the TV with Minnie. A split second after we sit down, Clancy comes in wearing a formal vest with a white shirt and black dress pants. He smells the air and lets out a happy sigh, he wanders towards the table and takes a plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

"Where are the other victors?" he asked gruffly, looking around the room, curious of what else he would see.

"You will be able to catch them in the morning." Minnie said patting a seat next to her. He took a seat and took a mouthful of meatloaf and shoved it in his mouth. The corners of his lips turned into a big smile as he took another mouthful and another after that.

"How is your stew dear?" Minnie asks watching me. I smile and take another spoonful. The broth was so rich and hearty. "It's great thank you."

"What about you Clancy?" She asks as he grunts in approval.

Minnie gives me a puzzled look, "He doesn't talk much does he?",

"Not to everyone," I say shaking my head. "He's...different." I look over to Clancy and give him a warm smile as he smiles back and gives me a happy nod.

Minnie gives us a half shrug and continues to study him, "He might want to loosen that attitude up a bit, it won't do too much good for hi- ooh! The reapings are starting! shh! shh!"

We all focus on the TV as the national anthem plays, after the anthem ends they show District One's reapings first. All the males rushed the stage for the male tribute spot, how could they enjoy this?. The girls did the same thing, but the girl who made it made me feel tense...She's the same girl from my DREAM!, the tan skin, the long black hair, her name apparently is Spinel Phoenix. Her_'I don't care'_ attitude and the look in her eyes with the intent to kill make me cringe.

Maybe just maybe...What happened in my dream will become reality. On the other hand the male, Lucifer Jones, looks cocky yet very stylish and suave. Lucifer is 18 while Spinel was 17.

As we watched, Minnie glared angrily at the escort on screen, her facial expression was full of scorn.

"Do you know him?" Clancy asked as Minnie grunted an "Ugh..",

"He's my older sibling and arch rival...Always going on like he's perfect and such! hmph!...forget about him! Let's just watch." Minnie said huffing and crossing her arms in disgust. I giggle as Clancy lets out a snicker.

District Two's pair looked more menacing than One's pair. The male, 16 year old Lucius Stone, looked as if he could snap anyone in half like a twig. He was built like a lumberjack and boasted a smug smile. His hair was a simple blond trendy cut. He was also in my dream, by the looks of him he seems like a bully. His partner on the other hand, 15 year old Artemis Ashlar, looked decent. If me and her ever fought I could probably take her...probably. _"Let's not get too cocky Emery."_ Artemis had brunette pigtails and amber colored eyes.

District Three's pair looked okay also. Natalie Bolt and Nathan Current, both of them looked like they had fight in them. Age wise they must be at least 16...

District Four's female fit the role of "Career Tribute", Shelley Kawal was as tall as Spinel and had black rectangular framed glasses on, her brunette hair flowed in the wind as she crossed her arms and gave a sly smile to the camera, she was 17 years old. Her partner, Evan Morrissey was a year older than me, he looked _extremely_ cute with a black avant-garde hairstyle and light blue eyes, he looked so harmless...until he flashed a smile. All four of his canine teeth were modified and sharpened to look like fangs. I moved back into the sofa a bit as he smiled. I remember not to long ago, there was a victor that once ripped another tributes throat out with her bare teeth. I wonder if we'll see a repeat of that in these years' games...hopefully not to me.

District Five's tributes looked neutral, but scared at the same time. The female was 16 year old Izzy Wilkinson and the male was 14 year old Zapp Peterkin. Maybe me and Izzy could be allies, she seems nice.

District Six...I don't see them as a threat, and I'm twelve years old. They go by the names of Monica Newman and Paul Larkin. Both are 17.

District Seven's reaping put on a show and captured my heart. A 13 year old boy by the name of Gary Oak volunteered for another 12 year old boy who was crying all the way to the stage. People stood and gave him a standing ovation. The girl's name was Jinx Blossom and she was 18.

Eight's Tributes were okay I guess, the boy's name was Clayton Ortega and the Females name was Jenny Latona, Clayton was 16 while jenny was 14.

Nine's tributes were 17 year old Katie Stork and Rory Hammer. Both cried as they took to the stage.

District Ten's tributes looked puzzled out of their minds. Both of them had shocked looks on their faces as they were reaped. Cody Langford was 17 while Karen Sharp was 16.

After them, it was our turn. I watched as I was reaped and slowly walking to the stage. If anything, I thought I looked shaken rather than just plain scared. I saw how everyone came and hugged me as Magnolia cried out desperately for me not to go, as the camera focused on me I looked neutral, which was a good thing. Minnie patted my shoulder as I watched.

It was her job to send tributes to their deaths every year...why was she so caring? I don't think I'll ever know. Clancy's reap would make him look like a big contender in the games, the way he thrashed grown men around like the way he did, and his serious face as he took the stage. He looked as menacing as Tank did. I leaned onto his shoulder and for the first time...he embraced me by rubbing mine.

District Twelve's reaping was something else also, both were eighteen and a couple. They both just happened to get reaped at random. They hugged one another and wailed loudly. Clarice Thomas and Kaplan Porter were their names.

"The age range is all over the place..." Clancy muttered as he asked for a pen and paper and a person Capitol people call an 'Avox' silently gave him what he asked. Clancy muttered as he wrote on the paper, "...Evan...Stone...Hmph."

People to avoid at all costs.:

District One

District Two

District Four (**Especially**)

People to look out for:

Districts Three,Five,Six,Seven,Eight,Nine and Twelve.

Possible Allies: TBA.

"There, my list." Clancy said smiling, Minnie shrugged and let out a happy grunt.

"It could be anyone's game children...you guys should get some sleep, I'll be sure to wake you tomorrow to meet your mentors. Also! good job with your reapings. You guys looked neutral which is always a good thing to show."

She says shooing us off. Me and Clancy finish off our meals and head off to our rooms. "Goodnight Emery." Clancy says walking into his room as I silently say "G'Night." back. Once I'm in my room I close the door and strip off into a blue nightgown. I curl up into a ball as the steady rhythms of the train rock me to sleep.

* * *

**Spinel****Phoenix****: En route to the Capitol.**

As I watched the first 5 reapings I could help but laugh... Everyone's age's were all over the place. I couldn't help but think these games were going to end in less than five days.

"These tributes are pathetic...I'm pretty sure at least 15 of them are going to be bloodbaths." I scoff and flick my hair away from my right eye as Lucifer chuckles then groans. I glare daggers at him as he takes a sip of champagne from his lavish glass and raises his eyebrows.

"Don't underestimate your enemies so easily...that Evan kid looks like he could do a number, and were not even halfway through the reapings yet!" he laughs as I roll my eyes._"I guess he has a point..."_ I study the tributes and make mental notes; I love how I have the power to judge others...

_"District Six...Scrawny..the both of them,"_

_"Seven? Little kid's a hero..probably won't make it too far. The girl? meh.."_

_"Eight..meh it's hard to tell.."_

_"Nine, Crying gets you nowhere. bloodbath material.."_

_"Ten?, probably won't make it, I bet they'll both die on the first night."_

I tense up as soon as District Eleven shows, this is where that Dawn girl was from, partly the reason I volunteered. The girl this year, 12 year old 'Emery Smithsonian..' puts on a pathetic show as her friends group hug her as he goes to the stage. I can't wait to kill her on live television in front of her friends and family, and by the looks of her it should be easy.

"Haha! Problem?" he asks eating a grape out of his bowl.

"The girl," I say lowly, "She's mine as soon as the gong goes off..".

"Fair enough," Lucifer smiles and turns to Ritchie,"What about you?, what's peeving you off? I see you staring at elevens escort like no tomorrow.."

"What?..me?" Ritchie points to himself, and then lets out a laugh.

"Nothing. Eleven's escort is my sister...nothing to get alarmed over. She's jealous of me."

"Heh heh, fair dues." Lucifer shrugs and looks back to the screen. He spits out his champagne, and takes off his glasses. Then he glares at the screen with a bewildered look in his eyes.

"The little girl's partner...Clancy Carmichael, how the hell is he fourteen? he's built like he's my age..." he points to the screen in shock as my head whips back towards the TV. I watch as he fights Peacekeepers off with ease and walks onto the stage.

"Hmm." I grunt inquisitively. "His face looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly...but then there's Evan."

"Maybe he's career material...?" Lucifer asks.

I raise my eyebrow, "...Possibly."

We watched District Twelve's reaping and half way though it, me and Lucifer burst out in laughter as they hold each other and cry.

"Ooh, we have lovers this year!" I say in the mushiest way possible, "Let's be sure to kill them off during the bloodbath." I jeer as I swipe a hand full of grapes from Lucifer's plate and stuff them into my mouth, he glares at me then immaturely sticks his tongue out.

"So..allies include District's Two and Four obviously and the boy from Eleven? seems legitimate...-yawn-" Lucifer stretches then rotates his neck,

"Well, I'd love to sit and chit-chat with you fine individuals...but I cute guy like myself needs beauty sleep." He gives me a half smile,

"Care to join me?"

"When you mean 'Join me?' you mean me following you to your room and seeing you off as I go to mine...then sure!" I roll my eyes and laugh as he waves me off. As I see Lucifer off, I head to my room for a good nights rest. I'm going to need it for the coming week ahead.

_"I can't wait to get my hands on that scrawny twelve year olds neck..."_

* * *

**Clancy Carmichael.**

"Goodnight Emery." I say nodding towards her,

"G'night." she said walking into her room.

I walk into my room and let out the biggest sigh I could, I change into some pajamas and flop into my bed. I let my thoughts about the next couple of days flood my mind;

_Yeah, I may have a good chance of winning these games, but Emery's in the game also. I wince at the thought of her getting violently stabbed or getting her neck slewn while she's in the arena. She's so...genuine, so... pure. I don't think she could kill anyone due to the fact that she's too nice, if she ever did win, she would become a changed person, not for the better, but for the worst. If she ever died, and I saw who did it...It wouldn't be pretty. And who's to say I'm capable of killing someone...I'm a pretty nice guy also, I would only kill someone if it depended on me seeing another day...Or Emery seeing another day. I think Emery deserves better than this. I'm going to get her out of here, she's_**_My_******_priority now._

I dismissively shrug off my thoughts and fall asleep, knowing that I have a big day coming up tomorrow.

* * *

**Tyler: Thank you for those who take the time to read this...I really appreciate it :).**

**Check out: "Seeping Wounds - The 80th Hunger Games" by ElementalEvolution! Get your tributes in while you still can!**


	5. Is this all really necessary?

**Chapter 4: Is this all really necessary...?**

* * *

**Emery.**

"Wake up!Wake up!Wake up!, it's going to be a big big big day!" Is the first thing I hear after Minnie knocked my door.

I slowly get up and look outside my room's window. Mountains loomed in the distance as the sky is still painted in a light purple hue, it was beautiful. I don't know why for certain why I'm so intrigued by scenery. Regardless, I still don't appreciate getting woken up so early..oh yeah I forgot, I'm on my way to get prettied up for a death pageant... I let out a slight yawn and move towards the washroom. Once I'm in the washroom I take a shower with that banana soap, dry off then brush my teeth. Today I chose a blue skirt with a red belt, with a pink sleeveless blouse. I take a brush and rake it through my somewhat wet hair. Satisfied with my looks I walk out of my compartment and approach the dining room, only to be met with a heated argument between my mentors Vincent and Persephone. You could tell that the topic was a strained one.

"You can't just give up on her so easily Vince! you don't know what she's even capable of.." Persephone snapped, and violently, banging a fist on the table they were situated around.

"It's time we had another victor!" Vince yelled.

"She may look weak, but hold a lot of surprises when it comes to the initial fighting of the other tributes...It's happened before," Persephone continues.

Vince threw his hands into the air in a confused yet angrily motion, "We should focus on the boy, he actually has a _chance!_, It's a good chance that she would die in the bloodbath. He could win this thing! _HE _is the one we should be focusing on," he then crosses his arms and leans back on his seat.

"She's going to end up like every other twelve year old that set foot in the games, dying _three._ _minutes. in._" he roughly jabbed the table with his finger when he ended with those last three words.

"You say that now..." Persephone sternly adds in, "But look how far Dawn got last year, Emery could maybe pull it of-"

Persephone stops mid sentence then stares at Vince who's staring at me, for I had just heard everything they had said.

"Um...Hello there Emery!" Persephone gives me a smile as Vince rubbed his shoulder, and then raised a finger.

"Listen kid.." he began, "I'm sorry you had to hear tha-"

"It's fine..." I say glumly with tears coming down my cheek,

"It's true, I'm probably not going to last five minutes..." I sniffle then let out a sigh that leaves me shaking. "No point apologising." I turn around and leave the room abruptly, pushing past Minnie and Clancy, and walk back to my room.

Vincent's words hurt me, but it's not like they didn't have any merit to them. I'm only a 5 foot tall 12 year old...On the other hand, Clancy's built like tank and a foot higher than I am... Who am I kidding? The only way I'm coming out of this arena is in a box. No twelve year old has ever won the games, and it's not going to happen anytime soon. Being hurt, sad and frustrated, I flop onto my bed and scream into my pillow. I shouldn't be here, these other kids are going to tear me apart, just like my dream. I wish I could still be back in Eleven where I rightfully belong.

"Emery dear!?, where are you!?, we can't get too far behind schedule!" Minnie chirps as she's walking down the train's hallway, she opens my room door and peers inside.

"Oh.." she says quietly and carefully sits on the end of my bed.

I acknowledge her by frowning, and then put my face back down in my pillow, allowing myself to look at her from the corner of my eye. Minnie wore a pink maxi dress with a black belt accompanied by a lighter pink cotton like material around the bust and bottom end of the dress. In her golden brown hair was a pink monarch clip, and her face was decorated with pink eyeliner. She put down her datapad on my dresser, cupped her hands and smiled gingerly at me, ready to listen to what I had to say.

She rubs my back and caresses my hair, "There there, Emery.", I raise my head up from my pillow and glare at her as if she insulted me, why was she so different? Why does she care? what does she get from it? She sees kids die every year, what makes me stand out from the rest..?

"Why do you care so much...?! I'm a lost cause, just let me die on the first day. Go focus on Clancy." I snap and put my face back into my pillow, but still keep my left eye trained on her as she sighed and shrugged.

"You can't just give up like this... I've seen tributes act like this many a time, only get killed as soon as it's time to step off the plate or wilfully die without putting up a struggle. I'd say more on this topic, but I'd rather not. I care because I know deep down inside, you could possibly make it, with the right amount of training that is. Everyone is good at something dear, you just have to find what it is."

She looks onto my dresser and picks up Dawn's brooch, a surprised smile spreads across her lips,

"Ah! you knew Dawn Mayflower!?" she exclaimed, I didn't respond.

"I knew Dawn also..and with you in possession of this brooch she wore last year, you know her too. So you know and I know she wouldn't of wanted you to give up so easily," she said soothingly. She's right.

"I guess so..." I say slowly sitting up, "Thank you so much."

"It's no problem really!, I'm just doing my job I suppo- eep!" she winces at me giving her a surprise hug, she probably didn't expect me to do what I did. After a split second, she embraces the hug.

"Now then, we have a breakfast buffet with your name on it...and mine...and Clancy's..and the other victors!" she lets out a laugh as I giggle a little bit.

She takes my hand and guides me towards the dining room, only to let out an ear piercing shriek as Vincent was bouncing Mars around like a soccer ball. Mars lightly howled in surprise as he was being bounced from Vincent's left foot to his right.

"Unhand my fair Mars this instant!" Minnie snapped holding her arms out as Vincent swiftly flicked Mars over into Minnie's waiting hands with his left foot.

"Relax Minnie! He was enjoying it!" He let out a chuckle as Minnie scoffed,

"Enjoy? Look at him! He's practically scared to death!" she cooed and protectively rubbed Mars's stomach with her index finger as he let out a scared whimper.

As Minnie tended to Mars, I strode past Vincent as I took a bowl of oatmeal and sat in the middle of Persephone and Clancy. "We'll talk later.." he whispered as I nod in understanding.

"So, how did you guys win your games...?" Clancy asked nodding towards Vince and Persephone,

"I joined the kids from One, Two and Four...Mainly because I flirted with the boys. In my games the disasters killed most of the tributes, if anything. I killed the girl from Two to win." Persephone grimly shook her head, hoping to shoo away the bad memories she brought back. The games she was in, the 59th I think, were really bad. The arena they were placed in was a craggy volcanic range.

"What about you?" Clancy grunted towards Vince.

He frowned and shook his head, "I'd rather not get into it...real bad memories.",

"Right." Clancy said dismissively and went back to the food on his plate.

"So..what are you good at Clancy?" Vince says looking at Clancy, studying his every feature.

"You should be good at many things..." he says sharpening his gaze. Clancy takes a sip of a hot brown liquid out of his mug and puts it down. He fidgets with his fingers, trying to fight the urge to drink from it again.

"My brother helped me prep for the games if in a worse case scenario, I got reaped. I know my way around spears, fighting hand to hand...swimming, machetes and other knives." Clancy said quietly as all the adults made a sharp gasp, then slowly looked at once another. The three of them grunted an "Ooh..." then smiled happily and nodded their heads in approval.

"It looks like we have a potential victor in our midst..." Vince half smiled then took a flask out of his suit pocket and took a sip of what appeared to be alcohol and carefully put it away in his suit pocket again.

"I know Clancy is perfect and all, but I would like to know more about you, little Emery." Persephone chimed happily as the entire room focused on me. I bow my head shyly, then look up and sigh. I look to Clancy and he nods, silently telling me to go on.

"I'm a fast sprinter...I'm good at climbing, and I could handle bladed farming equipment, like a scythe...and I could also swim." I shyly say, earning head nods and smiles of approval, I smile at the seemingly positive attention I'm receiving.

"Our chances are just as good if not, on par with the higher Districts..." Minnie says happily petting Mars while reading a magazine. The adults go to the other side of the train car and huddle into a circle as Clancy gives me his mug, I smell the contents and raise my eyebrows.

"Its hot chocolate!" he says smiling, I give him a puzzled look.

"What's hot chocolate? Melted chocolate in a cup?" I ask quizzically as he shakes his head and says "Drink!", so I cautiously did. As I took a sip, the sugary flavor exploded in my mouth, my eyes became alert as he laughed and smiled.

"I knew you would like it." After five minutes the mentors and Minnie come back from the side of the train car and sit down again.

"Were almost at the Capitol kids," Vince says,

"Once we get off the train you guys will meet your prep team...erm, they're going to do things to you...You won't like those things, but you'll have to deal with it." Vincent says taking another swig of his alcohol as Minnie makes an ushering motion towards our train cars window as the Capitol's skyline comes into view as if she did it on que.

"Woah..." I gasp getting off from my seat and rush towards the window. I've only seen the Capitol in pictures and on television, but it looks nothing like what I see at home. There were buildings of all shapes and sizes. I wonder what it's like at night?

"What do you think Emery!?" Minnie cheered as I stuttered and tried to muster up an answer, I shake my head slowly and continue to glare out the window in wonder. I wish home could look as good as the Capitol did.

"How much is it to get a place up here?" Clancy asked snickering as the adults chuckled lightly at his wisecrack. After a second the train went into a tunnel, blocking off the skyline.

"Emery...we should go to the observation room to wave and get sponsors, they'll love you." Clancy says holding my right hand and running me down the hallway. As he does this I let my free hand cover my mouth as I blush.

As we reach the observation room loud cheering could be heard from outside the train as it slowed down into a station. Clancy waves as girls blow kisses at him, He caught them and pretended to hug it as the girls screamed louder at his action. It bugged me a little bit, but for the sake of getting sponsors anything is necessary. I hesitate for a second, then wave as both men and women alike hold their hearts and wave back. These people looked so odd... I think one of them had cat ears. Comparing these Capitol people to Minnie, Minnie was quite normal. The colours they were wearing were almost blinding to the eye, colours such as extremely light blues and yellows, but I managed to beat it back.

"These people sicken me, but it has to be done..." Clancy muttered as I looked up towards him confusingly, then nodded in understanding. I get what he's saying. They're not really cheering for us...They're cheering for our deaths.

We turned around as Peacekeepers entered the car. They told us that we have a limousine waiting for us and that it was time to get off the train. As the Peacekeepers briskly escorted us to the trains exit then outside, the crowd went ecstatic. Clancy whispered to follow his lead, I nodded and watched as he shook some of the Capitol people's hands, I followed his lead and shook some people's hands as well, including a girl who was my age...I think. After Clancy's stunt, the crowd went even wilder, I looked up to Minnie as she gave me a giant _'I'm proud of you'_ smile and gave me a thumbs up as we walked up a set of stairs and got into the waiting limousine.

" That was SPLENDID! Way to go you two!" Minnie happily chirped as she lightly clapped. Mars let out a happy bark as Clancy ruffled the top of his head.

I peered out the window as crowds lined the streets eagerly to get a glimpse of us, there were more than one limousine on the road, probably filled with other tributes. As we drove down the route, the buildings got taller and the crowds got heavier. We crossed a beautifully designed bridge, the water flowing underneath was as clear as day.

"Look! Look! that's where I live!" Minnie chirped and pointed out the window we passed a lavish gated off mansion. It looked like a house a victor would live in, it had lavish garden and a giant fountain in the middle of it.

"Look's nice!" I say happily.

"Nothing but the best for the LaFontaine family!" she winked.

"There's so many places be and go here in the Capitol! I wish I could take you to them all!" she continued.

After Minnie pointed out all the places where everybody that's a somebody in the Capitol would be, our car pulled up to a giant building that Minnie called "The Training Center", she says this is where we will be staying for the next week. As we got out, Peacekeepers quickly hustled us inside as cameras flashed one after another. The lobby looked extravagant, the floor was basically a giant seal of Panem, and brown lounge chairs and tables were everywhere. Everywhere was humming with activity as Minnie stopped halfway through the lobby.

"I'll see you guys soon!" Minnie waved to us as Clancy and I were escorted through a giant lobby to an elevator which took us down to a floor. Clancy was separated from me and put into a separate room as I was also put into a room. As I got into the room I was instructed to take off my clothing and lay on the table, which I resented but ended up complying. The room was very welcoming but looked like a giant shower area with the green tile walls. Three people, two girls one boy, pranced happily into the room standing closely to one another. It looked like if you gave them the slightest poke, they would explode with giddiness.

The girl standing on the right has green long hair and green eyeliner, "I'm Stella!" she smiled and went back into formation.

"I'm Kevin!" the male on right chirped, his hair was blue, and looked the most normal out of the trio. He was of Asian descent. He did a twirl then bowed as he went back into formation.

The third one popped from the middle and exclaimed happily, "And I'm Stacy!", her hair was purple, and her skin was light orange.

"And we're your prep team!" they chirp in unison as they all start to laugh obnoxiously.

"I'm Emery..." I say, still embarrassed about being underdressed.

"Emery is such a cute name for a little girl like you!" Stacy cheered.

"Oh my gosh she's just like Dawn!" Stella chirped, "She was so cool...Did you know her!?" She asked me as a tear slid down my left cheek,

"She was my best friend...Like a sister almost." I said quietly as they all frowned and nodded compassionately. There was silence for a moment until Stacy broke it,

"Don't worry Emery, she's in a better place now!" she smiled as a wide array of equipment is being brought in by avox's.

"Now relax, we're going to pretty you up for tonight's chariot rides!" Kevin chirped as he took out a pair of complicated scissors,

"..Um, what are you doing with those?" I ask cautiously,

"Your hair is too long. When it comes to you going into the arena, it might end up being a hazard!" Kevin feigned a look of fear the proceeded to come closer to me with the instrument._"If it means me lasting longer in the arena...I'm game...I guess."_

_-Snip snip snip_

_-clip clip clip_

After he was done, Stella coated my legs with a warm sticky liquid and quickly ripped it off. Once she ripped it off I let out a yelp of pain.

"I'm sorry!, I'm just trying to get rid of all the hair on your legs!" she put a sorry look on her face. Psh, I barely have hair on me as it is!. After she quickly did my arms, they scrubbed me down in a soapy chemical. As soon as the liquid made contact with my skin It burned, but I managed to suck it up and take it. After they dried me off, Stacy painted my nails with blue polish. After my nails were done they instructed me to stand up, so I did. I crossed my arms into my chest uncomfortably as they circled me like vultures looking for the slightest error.

"Is all this really necessary..?" I ask timidly.

They all look up to me and happily say at the same time "Yes!".

After a minute Stacy raised her hand as Kevin and Stella backed away on que. Stacy gave me a crimson robe and I quickly put it on.

"Oh my gosh! She looks _so_ adorable!" Kevin squeaked as he pushed a long mirror into my view and held his hands anticipating a positive reaction.

"Oh...wow." I murmur at the figure in the mirror that's supposedly me. My hair was cut down to shoulder length and curled, and my skin was shiny as if they burned through a layer of it. I look back at the three adults who were silently waiting my reaction, they were bobbing back and forth and had large grins on their faces.

"Um…Thank you." I say as the trio squealed a "Eeek!" and bounced up and down the room, making me giggle lightly. I wonder how Clancy is holding up with all this...

"Okay you wait here dear while Clay, your stylist, comes and sees you!" Stacy chirped as they left me in the room alone.

After a moment the man who Stacy said was Clay came into the room. He was black, like myself, and had a flat top coloured blond, as were his eyebrows. He could possibly be 20 years old by the looks of him, and had a mature persona as he held a datapad in his right hand and what appeared to be coffee in another.

"You're going to have to lose the robe.." He says politely typing into a datapad. I freeze up a little bit and hesitate, Kevin was a guy and I was naked around him, but he was...'different' so to speak. Clay raised his eyes from off the tablet and raised an eyebrow.

"Well...?" He asked impatiently tapping his feet.

"If you want a chance to come out of this alive sweetheart, I suggest you lose the robe." he says bluntly as I slowly take off the robe one shoulder at a time and let it freely touch the ground.

I let my arms dangle freely beside me as my face burns red. His chocolate coloured eyes gazed at my naked body, he started to circle me to which I felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Mhm! For a twelve year old, you're not that bad. I should have a number of dresses for you." he says as he continues to circle me.

"My Apologies...Here you go," He says coldly as he hands me the crimson robe as I put it on slowly. After a moment of silence I say,

"I'm Emer-",

"Emery Smithsonian, I already know. Good job with your reaping! How are you doing so far?" he says with a hint of concern.

I shrug, "To be honest...I'm not doing so well. I know I'm probably going to die on the first day so what's the point...?" I bow my head, almost on the verge of crying. He lifts my head up by my chin and wipes a tear away with his thumb.

"If you comply with me and listen to what your mentors tell you, You'll have just as much of an amount of a chance to win," he gives me a sincere look,

"I'm going to make you a star.." he hold my shoulder and points off into a random direction, this makes me laugh a little bit.

"Okay." I quietly say as he takes me into a lavish room with a whole bunch of dresses in it. He guides me to a sofa with a bowl of grapes on a glass table, I happily sit down and eat a number of grapes as he mutters to himself.

"I want you to be natural, not a makeup doll. Your dress should command attention instead of the same old wheat field worker routine...mhm yes, I think I got exactly what I have in mind for you," He hums as he picks out a dress and shows it to me, It's a blue monarch butterfly pattern dress with wings. My mouth was wide open as I took in its features.

"What do you think? Your District gets a lot of monarchs during the summer?" He asks, smiling because he already knows the answer.

"It's gorgeous! I see blue monarchs all the time back home..." I say smiling. "What's Clancy going to wear?",

"Something more boyish you'll see." Clay says giving me an assuring look. "Alright get this on, the chariot rides start in a couple of minutes." he says giving me the dress. After carefully putting on the dress I come back to Clay and smile happily,

"How do I look...?" I say as he puts his left hand to his chin, and then raises an eyebrow.

"You look marvellous."

* * *

**Tyler: If your reading this, thank you so much for taking the time to do so.**


	6. Chapter 6: Tribute parade extravaganza!

**Chapter 5: Tribute Parade extravaganza!**

* * *

**Clancy.**

After all the things that happened to me within the last hour...I feel violated, why do they put all this stuff on if they end up killing all of us in the end. They would save heap of money if they just reaped us, then shot us in the back of our heads every year. How do people find this entertaining is beyond me, the killing of innocent youth for sport? Man is our ethical values really messed up.

"Clancy dear, pay attention!" chirped my stylist Priscilla. Her skin was pink along with her hair but darker, she looked like an alien but her intentions were modest. I quickly pull out of my thoughts and take a sip of my water while she goes through some outfits.

"I'm paying attention." I say as she nods and rifles through the outfit rack. She smiles as she takes out a white double-breasted suit with a black bowtie and buttons, she also lays down a stetson. The outfit looks like it belongs to an old-time plantation owner.

"Hmm, not bad..." I say taking the suit from her hands and study it closely. It was soft and silky to the touch, better than the old, worn textiles at home.

"I'm glad you like it, now quickly get changed!" she hastily shoves me into a changing room, after a moment I come out and look into the mirror as Priscilla brushed my shoulders and circled around me. I liked the suit, it made me feel more authoritative.

"You look so handsome and mature...You and Emery will make a big splash for sure!" she clapped her hands and led me down a hallway, as we walked down the hallway cheering could be heard.

Priscilla opened the doors to what appeared to be stables. Horses were lined up in order while other tributes could be seen getting prepped and briefed by their escorts. Evan and Shelley were dressed as mermaids and mermen as Tank and Megan were dressed in armour and held spears and shields while they spoke to Spinel and Lucifer who were wearing gemstone encrusted clothing. Zapp and Izzy's clothing were sprayed with yellow glitter. Gary and Blossom were trees...like every other tribute that came from their District before them. The pair from Ten had cow patterned clothing... Twelve dressed like coal, the guys from Three dressed like gears. Everyone looked pretty good I guess, probably because they were fed and groomed first.

"Ah! There you are Clancy! You look smashing!" Minnie waved happily as me and Priscilla walked over to her and our chariot. The chariot was white and gold and sported different fruits on it, mainly grapes and apples, representing our District's agricultural power. I guess our prep team went all out this year.

"I wonder where little Emery is? The rides begin in five minutes..." Minnie flashed a concern look then gasped and pointed in another direction, in which Priscilla and I looked.

Minnie was pointing at Emery and her stylist, I didn't really focus on him, but mainly on Emery...She looked beautiful, no, _**astounding**_. I was surprised I could still recognize her with her hair cut and her skin so fair...Her dress represented a monarch butterfly and the wings behind her black looked like legitimate ones, fluttering a bit as she stopped and stood in front of me. I've never been so observant of her in my life, I couldn't help but stare as she playfully touched the curls of her hair and swayed in a cute yet timid fashion while I just rubbed the back of my head and tried to keep my eyes off of her.

Not knowing where to start first I cleared my throat,

"Hi,"

"H-hey Clancy," she quietly replied staring at the floor,

"You look um, uh…very beautiful!" I say hesitantly playing with my cuffs. I'm not exactly the most social guy in town...

She gasped and her face lit up, "R-really? You like it?" she looked back down to her feet, blushed and held her hands together as she rotated her right ankle slowly.

"Yeah, I do." I give her a sincere smile and walk up into the chariot and hold my hand out for her to take it.

She accepted my hand as cautiously got up onto the chariot as well. As I helped Emery up, I noticed District One's escort, Spinel, and Lucifer approaching us, Emery quickly gripped my arm for some reason as Minnie rolled her eyes in disdain. He stopped, chuckled and twirled his cane with Lucifer and Spinel standing beside him, looking arrogant and cocky. I noticed how the two were sizing up Emery as she hid behind me and peered out to look back at them.

"Well, well well...If it isn't my sister dearest, Minnie." He glared at her through his red framed glasses and twirled his cane, then leaned on it as he observed his fingernails.

"What do you need Ritchie? Don't you have tributes to attend to?" She scoffed and nodded towards Lucifer and Spinel. He raised a stern eyebrow, and laughed.

"It's not me who needs to worry about their tributes darling...They're going to win this year's games!", he tilted his head to his tributes.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that..." Minnie crossed her arms and stared straight at her brother.

"And who may I ask...Would win other than one of them, Surely not one of your tributes? The boy maybe... but the little one...nuh uh." he said pointing his cane towards Emery as she timidly peered at him then moved behind me.

Minnie shook her head and pushed him away from us, "You don't worry about them, and don't call me darling!" she gave him one more shove making him fall over, he got up and brushed himself off and gasped,

"..Well I must say!", he gives her a light push, she almost fell over but stood her ground and gave him another push, they kept doing this until the light shoves turned into light slapping, fighting as if they were immature four-year old children arguing over a petty issue. All of our prep teams rushed to towards the fighting siblings and pulled them apart, this made me laugh inside my head. Emery's stylist, who I now know as Clay, gave Emery a button to push when it was our turn to go out, we both looked at it puzzlingly.

"What does this do?" she asks as Clay smiles, shakes his head and says,

"You'll see." he moves back as the main door to the stables opened and the chariots began to move towards the light and cheering.

"_Okay! Game face...this will help towards our sponsoring...and with Clay's magic button, we'll be sure to get them."_

* * *

**Caesar Flickerman/Claudius Templesmith.**

"Mister Flickerman, Mister Templesmith, your on in..."

3..

2..

1..

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the tribute parade!, hosted by yours truly, Caesar Flickerman, and my co-host, Claudius Templesmith!" Caesar roared as Claudius happily clapped his hands,

"Good evening citizens of Panem!" he says politely nodding towards the camera,

"Every year we give you a glimpse of each tribute, showcasing unique aspects of their home District, every year it seems that the stylists are getting craftier and craftier! haha!" Claudius put on a big smile.

"This is a _very_ important night for the tributes as this is where many of the sponsors choose their tributes they want to endorse, Here comes the chariots now! Starting with District One: Luxury. Representing District One we have the Lovely Spinel Phoenix and the Posh Lucifer Jones!" Caesar roared as Claudius chuckled lightly,

"It seems that Spinel is showcasing a golden over-skirt dress sprayed with glitter and sprinkled with different gemstones! Lucifer wears the same fashion, but instead wears a lush suit. Their costumes are so bright Caesar I can't even get a proper glance anymore!" He said feigning blindness and shielding his eyes.

"Haha!, what would us Capitolite's do without District One providing the jewellery that keeps us bedazzled all year round!", "Next up we have District Two!: Masonry...Represented by Tank Stone and Megan Ashlar! And oh my Claudius they look ready for battle!"

"Ah yes District Two, dressed up as ancient Greek warriors known as Spartans, known for their ferocious nature in the heat of battle! I wonder what they will bring into the games!" Claudius said.

"Without District Two, the Capitol's infrastructure would be in shambles! Here comes District Three: Technology, represented by Natalie Bolt and Nathan Current!, tell me about their costumes Claudius?"

"It seems that both of their suits and dresses are set up as circuit boards! That's pretty creative!" Claudius straightened his bowtie and smiled at the camera,

"Panem wouldn't be the high-tech giant was today if it weren't for the efforts of the smart citizens of District Three! Next up we have the lovely District Four: Fishing! Represented by the lovely and dashing, Evan Morrissey and Shelley Kawal! Just look at Evan Claudius, thirteen years old and already quite the ladies man!" the camera focuses on Evan as he blows kisses and pretends to kiss the women in the crowd who in return, do the same thing back. Shelley blew kisses towards the men who return them.

"District Four's tributes seem to be going for the mermaid/merman look which I for one adore!" Claudius chirps,

"Claudius, I'm a man who enjoys his lavish fruits of the sea, If District Four stopped producing its seafood I would be a very upset person!" Caesar feigned a frown then quickly pointed at the next chariot.

"Here comes District 5: Power! and their tributes, the shocking Zapp Peterkin and Izzy Wilkinson!" the camera then focuses on Izzy and Zapp who hold hands and wave to the crowd.

"It appears that they are dressed like gears, sprayed in yellow gloss!" Claudius cheered,

"Panem would be forever in darkness without the proud citizens of District Five lighting the way!, Up next is District 6: Transportation! Represented by Paul Larkin and Monica Newman!, dressing up as train conductors!, all our high-tech trains come from this District!" Caesar clapped his hands in delight.

"Next up, District 7: Lumber! The heroic Gary Oak and Jinx Blossom! Dressing up as the usual tree!" the camera moves to Gary as he timidly waves to the crowd and holds Jinx's hand. "I hear that the people of District Seven are extremely down to earth!" Claudius and Caesar nod towards the camera,

"Filled with lush trees and meadows, this is where most of our pulp and paper comes from! Following District 7 we have District Eight: Textiles! With Clayton Ortega and Jenny Latoya!, dressed up as jesters! Look how happy they are to be here! With a passion for fashion, the citizens of eight work hard to produce the fabrics that all Capitolites alike die for!" Caesar points towards the camera and nods.

"Next up, District Nine: Grain! Katie Stork and Rory Hammer are these years' tributes, wearing cute overalls and denim caps! I for one adore their bread! Don't you Caesar?"

"Of course Claudius, their grain is what keeps this nation strong! And it seems that District 10: Livestock have dressed up with cow like patterns! The stylists are so creative this year!" Claudius exclaimed as Caesar laughed and sighed happily,

"Ah... Yes they are Claudius! The tributes this year are so stylish and full of grac- oh?! What's this I see from District Eleven?"

* * *

**Tyler: If you came this far, thanks for reading!, I truly appreciate it.**

**Check out "**A Relentless fire" **A SYOT made by "**Takai No Hibiki" **This SYOT is sure to be 40+ chapters, theres TONS of spots left, so go! get a spot while you still can! this author is determined to get things going. **


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